eastoregonian.com/front page/8-26-99
By MIKE FEDERMAN of the East Oregonian
PENDLETON - Correctional institutions in Umatilla County will be used as the backdrop for a documentary produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting.
A Portland television crew will visit both the Two Rivers Correctional Institution and the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution on Friday to film footage of prison work crews for a documentary called "Measure 11: Hard Choices, Hard Time."
Scheduled to air on public television Sept. 22, the half-hour documentary will focus on how Measure 11 is affecting the state's penal system, said Morgan Holm, OPB director of news and public affairs.
According to EOCI population demographics taken in July, 40 percent of the 1,580 men and women inmates are imprisoned under Measure 11. By comparison, the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem has a Measure 11 population of 23.8 percent with 1,896 total inmates.
Kathy Jackson, executive assistant to the superintendent, said EOCI has gained a younger inmate population that is serving longer sentences since Measure 11 was implemented in 1995. The voter-approved measure requires state courts to hand down harsher sentences to criminals convicted of certain crimes.
Holm said OPB's investigation into the issue has revealed that a greater number of serious offenders are willing to plea bargain to avoid being sentenced under Measure 11.
"We've learned some interesting things," Holm said. "Prosecutors have been able to keep people in prison. Those that are sentenced under Measure 11 are doing all the time."
OPB film crews have collected documentary footage of interviews with state legislators, district attorneys, criminal lawyers and victim rights advocates, but will use live footage of penitentiaries only from Umatilla County.
"We need some basic shots of prison construction," Holm said, indicating the close proximity of Two Rivers, which currently employs minimum custody prisoners for its construction, and EOCI make them ideal locations for filming in one day. "We'll be covering the issue of prison labor. The Prison Blues program has received a lot of notoriety."
The commercial jeans manufacturing plant at EOCI is one of many work programs inmates participate in at the institution.
Under Measure 17, the state requires inmates to work a 40-hour week.
According to Jackson, EOCI has seen a dramatic increase in work-program participation over the past year, resulting in a Measure 17 compliance rate that has grown from 58 percent last summer to 81 percent.
"We encourage the inmate population to get involved in work and be productive while they're here," Jackson said, attributing the growth of EOCI's Measure 17 compliance rate to two factors:
Inmates at EOCI can use a combination of work and education programs to meet the 40-hour a week activity requirements.
New work programs at EOCI, such as solid waste recycling, graphic arts and a greenhouse, have increased the institution's ability to provide job positions.
"Measure 11: Hard Choices, Hard Time" will air in connection with two other PBS documentaries the same evening that address efforts by communities to lower the nation's crime rate.