Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-25
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

| TURN ~ OF IL times year 10 lHe Or
charded hills of Occoquan from the
back alleys and dives of the city
Some have had from 10 to 80 home
comings in the past eight years. One
old gentleman boasts of 1876 sentences
since he has been resident of Wash
ington. His claim covers so long a pc
Rod that it has not been practical for
Jail officials to verify it. but he is
man with an excellent record for We
racity.
Constant Reporters Are Problem.
These constant repeaters hNNe be-
come such a problem to the District
Board of Public Welfare and superin-
| tendents of the three penal institutions
that bill is being drawn up for pres
| entation TO the forthcoming special
session of Congress which will be rev.
dictionary In the history of penal legis-
lation in Washington.
Judge Michael M Doyle, member
! of the board of public welfare, has
been delegated to write this bill and
is engaged in framing measure which
will provide for indeterminate sentences.
a parole board, provision for
a small money payment to prisoners
upon discharge from the District of
I
maintenance of a receiving home in
Washington to care for discharged pris-
oners for few days and try to get
jobs for them.
Opposition in Congress Seen.
| This legislation involves several knot
| ty problems, especially the indetermi-
nate sentence provision, which is expect
ed to arouse more or less opposition in
| Congress, but for which there are ex-
cellent precedentS in some of the States.
! Judge Doyle is studying previous efforts
| to deal with the repeater" problem.
! especially a bill drawn up but never
! presented by Attorney George E. Ham
! llton several years ago when he was
| q member of the board OF charities
which embodied practically all these
! provisions.
Men from both Occoquan and Lorton
now are set free without any further
supervision at the Seventh street sta
ton of the Southern Railway. Those
from Occoquan are without money
often without friends, and find them
selves helpless in the city. Often their
only means of getting bed and dinner
is to get into the tolls Of the law again
as soon as possible.
Sc Progress Revealed by Barnard.
The astonishing progress of some of
the "repeaterS" is revealed in statistics
compiled by Capt. M NJ. Barnard, su-
perintendent of District of Columbia
penal institutions; Maj. William H.
Peake and Julian A. Schoen, superin-
tendents of the District Jail and Deco
guam Workhouse. and Miss Pearl Nc
Call. assistant United States attorney
1t is pointed out however, that these
records. astounding as they seem, by no
means furnish complete picture OF the
individuals prison career, since some of
the men have records almost as long in
the Maryland institutions. They roam
back and forth between Washington
and Baltimore, and are well known to
the police of both cities.
Few Of the "repeaterS" really are
criminals. They are characterized by
Mai. Peake and Mr. Schoen simply as
men and women who have given up
and whose only associations with hui
man kindness, cleanliness, full stomachs
and warm blankets are at the jails.
! 'Intoxication" or "disorderly conduct
appear on their records So, 60 and 10
times. Their sentences range from 10
to so days, with an occasional sentence
OF year to give little variety Some
of them are excellent mechanics, who
always find a welcome awaiting them
living outside Occasionally. of course
there is degenerate among them whose
constant crimes and miSdemeanors are
| a menace to society.
Detected Lot in Court.
They are a detected lot, their heads
| bursting from the effects of bay rum
and raw alcohol, when they are herded
| into the District Jail. but their faces
| brighten the next morning as the train
nears Lorton Station and they see the
| familiar, battered old truck waiting 20
| take them to the heated barracks
sweeping vistas Of Virginia countryside
and recreation hall in the hills.
Sometimes one of them will manage
| to stay out of Jail month, especially
| in Summer when one can sleep out
of doors without discomfort. At other
seasons they frequently are released
at the Seventh street station one eve
ming, arrested that same night. tried
| the next day. and are back at Occopuan
| the day after, ready to take up their
old jobs with hardly break in the
continuity Some Of them regard these
| Jobs as their own. Mr.. Schoen tells of
one man who is an excellent plumber
Every time he comes back he is returned
to the plumbing shop so that actually
was out four days the last time.
"Got a Right to Be Here"
Back again." one Of the other pris-
cner plumbers greeted him as he came
into the shop.
IT guess I've got more right to be
here than anybody else" the old man
muttered Indignantly. He loves his job
! and fears that during one OF his en-
0fhPr
may get It away from him.
| Few of the repeaters, however. are
old men. They range between 25 and
40. About half are white and half col
/ ored. but all the records are held by
white men.
A typical year of a repeater's life Is
shown by records compiled by Mr..
Schoen. F. B., for instance. was ar
rested January 9, 1928, and sent down
for 30 DAYS. He served the full time,
but was out soon enough TO be rear
rested February II. This time he got
IS DAYS. Discharged March 2, he was
rearrested March Il and sent down for
60 days. He got some time off for good
conduct SO that he was at liberty ON
Nav 81. on which date he was arrested
and sent to the workhouSe for 80 days.
Again he got some time of for good
conduct, but on September 10 he was
picked up again and received sentence
Of Is days After few days OF drunken
liberty he fell into the hands of the
police once more on october 3 and
went down for 80 days.
In Again-Out Again.
He was out again, however, Novenn-
Der !. on which date he was again ar
rested and sent to the workhouSe for
25 davs. He served the sentence and
was discharged into the chill winds OF
early Winter. He did something to get
himself rearrested at once and on No
, yember 80 drew another 25-day SEN
tence, getting out the day before Christ