In This Issue
UPDATE ON THE NOVEMBER NIAF EVENT
The Next Event Will Be Held in Waterbury in January
- Exact Date To Be Announced
On November 16, Attorney Tim Moynahan and Attorney Joseph Tramuta attended an event sponsored by the National Italian American Foundation's Connecticut Chapter. This event took place at Carmen Anthony Steakhouse in New Haven, Connecticut. Its focus was to promote and celebrate local business owners in the surrounding area. At the event, Italian lyric soloist Anna Rita Tornello sang selected opera pieces. Tornello was accompanied by pianist Robert Fertitta.
The evening hosts, Joseph Tramuta, Esq. and Timothy C. Moynahan, Esq. were joined by NIAF Area Coordinators Francis M. Donnarumma, Esq, and Roy L. De Barbieri, Esq.. Attorney De Barbieri discussed the growth of the Foundation over the past 35 years. The reception served as an opportunity for NIAF to highlight the initiatives of the Foundation and to broaden its membership base.
Tornello, a native of Rome, Italy currently resides in Connecticut and has performed as a soloist in opera companies throughout the United States and Italy. She has participated in competitions in La Spezia, Sarzana, Lerici, and Viareggio, Italy. She received the " Ragazza Eliseo" award in 1999 and a finalist in the "Voci di Donna" competition in Sarzana, Italy. Tornello is also a graduate of the "Liceo Linguistico," known today as the "International School of Languages", in Genoa, Italy.
While NIAF hosts many events around the country, its next event in the area will take place in Waterbury, CT, with a tentative date for sometime in January.
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| In the picture: Attorneys Joseph Tramuta and Timothy C. Moynahan, Anna Rita Tornello, lyric soprano, and NIAF Area Coordinator Francis M. Donnarumma |
 THE NEED FOR REFORMATION OF CONNECTICUT'S CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM
Although it was a rainy night on November 30, 2010, the Panel discussion regarding prison reformation at the University of Connecticut Law School, was heavily attended. The topic was hot – Prisons in the Constitution State: a Prison Reform Panel - organized by the Central CT Chapter of the ACLU- CT.
Attorneys Tim Moynahan and Jennifer Wheelock of Moynahan & Minnella were especially interested in the topic, in lieu of a recent client's defense case. Attorney Moynahan advocated against inflexible sentencing laws and the need for necessary changes in the correction system, such as incarceration of a non-violent offender without walls. He cited H.O.P.E.'s (Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement) Probation Program, initiated by Judge Steven Alm in Hawaii, that puts enforcement back into probation, as one example of an effective program.
Discussion topics included the cost of incarceration and the impact on taxpayers, prison conditions and the efforts of re-entry programs. The panelists raised their concern regarding the number of prisons, considering the small size of the state; there are 18 prisons and 3 jails in the state of Connecticut.
Attorney Moynahan is a firm believer that it is possible to "turn a disaster into an opportunity." He believes change can be successfully implemented by closely monitoring certain offenders with bracelets, requiring them to do community service work, give speeches to high school children about their drug-related experiences and how they worked towards keeping away from illegal substances. Laresse Harvey is a living example of turning disaster into opportunity; from ex-offender, today she is a Policy Director of a Better Way Foundation and lobbies for positive changes in the correctional system.
The fundamental aspect of punishment is to rehabilitate the offender. However, this objective seems to be completely ignored and the correctional system continues to feed into the system of punishment, instead of educating and helping inmates. There is no doubt that the correctional system is in dire need of reformation.
In a recent case, Attorney Tim Moynahan persuaded the Court in Danbury that we "don't have to travel with horse and carriage anymore," resulting in a client's probation, instead of incarceration. The need to look forward and reform the system is undoubtedly important because what we currently have is not working. The reform of our correctional system here in Connecticut is critical.
The Panel discussion was followed by a Q & A session. The Prison Reform Panel consisted of people with different experiences and perspectives to the topic, such as: David McGuire, ACLU-CT staff attorney, Jim Amis, former correctional ombudsman, Laresse Harvey, ex-offender and Police Director of A Better Way Foundation, Amy Meek, New Haven Coordinator for Mayor's Prison Re-entry Initiative and Bill Dyson, former Connecticut state representative. The Panel was moderated by journalist and former Hartford Times editorial page editor Don Noel.
Institute of Human Virology Update
The Institute of Human Virology Board of Advisors (BOA) met on November 18 & 19, 2010. Mr. Timothy Moynahan, a founding member of the board, was in attendance as three new members were introduced by BOA Chair Ms. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend: Mrs. Sheila Kast (WYPR Public Radio), Dr. Sharon Malone (Washington-DC based OB/GYN, wife of Attorney General Eric Holder), and Ms. Janet Langhart Cohen (Journalist and Author, wife of former secretary of defense Wand senator from Maine, William Cohen).
Mr. Moynahan introduced his guests, Dr. Anthony Cernera (President, Sacred Heart University and President, International Federation of Catholic Universities) and Mr. James Fabiani (Founder, Fabiani and Company).
Meeting discussions included a review of the IHV Annual Meeting in Tropea, Italy, faculty recruiting, IHV/Cancer Center collaborations, Washington DC's response to their HIV/AIDS crisis, the Gates grant, PEPFAR, IHV administrative issues, and SOM fundraising.
An in-depth presentation on the Global Virology Network (GVN) highlighted Mr. Moynahan's efforts to galvanize Ireland's response and drew the attention and commitment of Dr. Cernera and Mr. Fabiani. The meeting adjourned with plans for a subcommittee to be formed by Mr. Jeffrey Trammell and Dr. Sharon Malone to address the DC HIV/AIDS crisis, and Mr. Moynahan's continued assistance on behalf of the GVN.
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