Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 103 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION › Title 103 CMR 131.00 - News Media Relations › Section 131.06 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
The following correctional terminology is contained within this
				policy and is defined for news media reference when reporting correctional
				issues:
Altercation
. A contained, isolated
				disruption between two or more individuals.
Commissioner
. The Commissioner of the
				Massachusetts Department of Correction.
Consent
. A voluntary agreement to
				participate in a particular act.
Correctional Institution
. Any
				Department of Correction facility. A correctional facility is designated with a
				security level rating of pre-release, minimum, medium or maximum.
Criminal Offender Record Information
				(CORI)
. CORI is defined as records and data in any communicable
				form compiled by a criminal justice agency which concerns an identifiable
				individual and relates to the nature or disposition of a criminal charge, an
				arrest, a pre-trial proceeding, other judicial proceeding, sentencing,
				incarceration, rehabilitation, or release.
CORI is
Limited
to:
(a)
Records and Data
whichset forth the
				fact or results of an individual's movement through any one or more of the
				formal stages of the criminal justice process; and,
(b)
Factual Statements
about the
				occurrence or outcome of an arrest, indictment, warrant, arraignment, bail,
				continuance, default, trial, appeal, disposition, sentence, probation,
				commitment, parole, commutation, release, termination or revocation of
				probation or parole, pardon, or similar occurrences or outcomes.
CORI shall
not Include
:
(a)
Evaluative Information
-
e.g
., classification reports, psychiatric reports - as defined
				in 103 DOC 153.01(4), available at
http://www.mass.gov/doc/policy
;
(b)
Intelligence or Investigative
				Information
-
e.g
., informant reports,
				surveillance reports - as defined in 103 DOC 153.01(5); and
(c) statistical reports in which individuals are not identified
				and from which identities are not ascertainable."
Department
. The Massachusetts
				Department of Correction.
Department of Correction
				Spokesperson
. The director of communications and outreach, the
				director of public affairs and/or someone specifically authorized by the
				Commissioner to speak on behalf of the agency.
Director of Communications and
				Outreach
. The person responsible for fostering and maintaining the
				Department's communication functions through out state government, among the
				agency's staff, as well as with the media, the general public and other
				interested stakeholders.
Director of Public Affairs
. The chief
				spokesperson for the Department responsible for maintaining a liaison between
				the Department and the news media and for providing technical assistance to
				superintendents and division heads concerning news media information or
				issues.
Disturbance
. An occurrence or event
				that interrupts the daily orderly operation of a correctional institution
				and/or precipitates a crisis.
Documentary
. A television, audio
				recording, or motion-picture presentation, usually consisting of actual news
				films accompanied by narration of factual, political, social or historical
				events or circumstances concerning institutional life and/or correctional
				issues.
Employee
. Any person employed by the
				Massachusetts Department of Correction.
Escape
. The act by which an inmate in
				the custody of the Department, leaves the confines of a correctional
				institution, or the custody of an escorting officer(s), and/or fails to return
				from an authorized release to the community at the designated time.
Evaluative Information
. Records,
				data, or reports, concerning individuals charged with crime and compiled by
				criminal justice agencies, which appraise mental condition, physical condition,
				extent of social adjustment, rehabilitative progress and the like, and which
				are primarily used in connection with bail, pre-trial or post-trial release
				proceedings, sentencing, correctional and rehabilitative planning, probation or
				parole.
Hostage Situation
. A disturbance in
				which one or more persons are being held against their will by an individual(s)
				until certain terms are fulfilled.
Inmate
. An individual, whether in
				pre-trial, un-sentenced, or sentenced status, who is confined in a correctional
				institution, including those patients admitted for evaluation or commitment to
				the Bridge water State Hospital, the Massachusetts Treatment Center or the
				Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center.
Intelligence Information
-
				Intelligence information is defined as:
(a) records and data compiled by a criminal justice agency for
				the purposes of criminal investigation, including reports of informants,
				investigators, or other persons, or any type of surveillance associated with an
				identifiable individual; and,
(b) records and data compiled by a criminal justice agency for
				the purposes of investigating a substantial threat to an individual, or to the
				order or security of a correctional facility. Intelligence information is not
				included in the definition of CORI.
Investigation
. An examination into
				allegations, as well as actual occurrences of wrong doing or improprieties by
				inmates or employees.
Medical Data
. That part of an
				individual's health record which is continuously maintained by health care
				providers, including, physical examination history, nature of complaint,
				inpatient and outpatient charts, admitting and other diagnoses, consultations,
				diagnostic test results, nurses' notes, medication logs,
etc
.
News Media Representatives
. News
				media representatives are persons whose principal employment is gathering and
				reporting news for a:
(a) Radio or television program whose primary purpose is news
				reporting for a licensee of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC);
(b) Newspaper covering general interest information and
				circulated to the public;
(c) Magazine that has a national circulation is sold by mail
				subscriptions or on newsstands to the general public;
(d) National or international news service, including wire
				services; and
(e) Websites whose primary purpose is news reporting.
Freelance reporters and journalists are included as members of
				the news media, however, they may be required to verify their assignment with a
				letter from the outlet that they represent.
News Conference
. A pre-arranged event
				involving the release of information to which members of the news media are
				invited, generally including a question and answer period.
News Release
. A statement or
				announcement relating to Department official public business, intended for
				distribution to the news media for publication and/or broadcast.
Routine Information
. All information
				concerning normal operations and daily business of the Department of Correction
				and its facilities.
Superintendent
. The chief
				administrative officer of a state correctional institution.