Let's just face it, prisons have now become money making profit centers owned and controlled by money making despots, especially in the South, so all dialogue to rehabilitate inmates is not even close to getting on the real agenda. That real agenda being, how do we keep all these cells filled to the maximum?
Will the people of the states where this is done ever wise up? probably not as they consider all talk that is counter to how they want to do it (lock 'em up and throw away the key) to be more interference with their states rights. More yankee meddling.
10
when you sentence someone to life plus 90 years in prison,you give them no incentive to do their time with any sense
of anything to lose.if someone must be
separated from society,you need to make
the proper arrangements for security and
only if necessary, segregation. we have way too many people in jail serving way
too much time.I am not naive enough to
think dangerous criminals should be on
the streets,but there must be some perspective on the part of ambitious
prosecutors when it comes to putting
people in jail for inordinate amounts
of time.
7
Govenor McMaster: "It's not a surprise when we have violent events take place inside prison." I guess that's why you have 2 guards on duty for 250 inmates in a "maximum security" prison. Doesn't sound too secure to me.
10
Prisons have their own gang hierarchy along with an intricate cultural and economic substructure operating within the bureaucratic institution. The gangs are not based on the streets but are ethnic in their origins. They are not to be trifled with, fully armed, after a fashion, with a leadership hierarchy and military style organization, they maintain survival in the prison. That broke down in South Carolina and the Warden had to wait for back up as the gang leaders could not come to a consensus. This has nothing to do with privatization or governmental organization ownership theory. It’s a delicate balance that requires a working knowledge of all that’s involved.
9
cruel and unusual punishment
3
I thought incidents like this only happened at for-profit prisons, but this one is a government run institution.
I guess it can happen in any prison and that's why emergency teams are form to help in these situations.
A maximum security prison where inmates can carry shives and murder other inmates. Impressive. And, it only took this maximum security prison nearly 8 hours to get the rioting under control.
Time for a new warden and a review of security practices.
5
And how would you suggest they control it faster, start shooting all the fighting inmates?
4
Here is a little more information from the Columbia, SC newspaper. http://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article208982794.html
3
Sounds like a story straight out of Criminal Minds. Wow.
2
Why aren't prisons designed to uplift those who have committed crimes, rather than drive them to this?
5
Six of the seven killed were black. South Carolina imprisons around 20,000 people in state facilities at last count (more in city jails of course--double, if US national statistics are a guide). Sixty-one percent of the SC state prison population is black in a state with an overall black population of 27.5%. Black prisoners are given longer average sentences as well in this first state of the slaveholder rebellion of 1861–66.
11
What is your point? Prisons are those that commit crimes no matter what race.
13
America's prison system is antiquated, and in need of drastic reform. If this riot disturbs you, vote in November for candidates who support prison/judicial reform. VOTE AMERICA!!
10
No maximum security prison should have a dormitory. Period. You cannot make them safe.
7
When I was a little boy when I looked out my bedroom window I looked over the National Cemetery at the Elmira "Reformatory". In the 50's and early 60's around the county you would see the inmates out in the fields working on 20 acres of beans or handling their livestock. The guards rode herd on them. They ate real food, and they slept nights. Some who earned the privilege were allowed to attend school, either high or college. That all changed in the Get Tough attitude toward crime. 50 years later we are still there and it is easy to get elected being tough on crime. Witness Willie Horton! I think the majority could care less about this incident. It is the "they got what they deserved" attitude. As a people we don't invest wisely. We certainly aren't going to invest in "them." So, we and them will continue to pay the price, just in different ways.
13
How hard did the prison guards try to stop the riot? Don't they have riot equipment and tear gas that would quell the fighting? What about training? In such a dangerous prison, it would seem they were completely unprepared to effectively intervene for around eight hours. This case should be investigated. The prison personnel did not respond professionally. The question is why?
6
Is this place a for profit operation?
No. It's run by the government.
1
Rape and murder. How is it that the "justice system" does so little to prevent these offences in facilities wherein they are in complete and total control? I for one would like to know the stories of these seven men whose government bestowed on them inadvertant death sentences. Can the families sue? I sure hope so. Money is the only thing some people understand.
36
As research has long demonstrated, prison riots are not caused by the presence of individuals convicted of violent crimes. They are caused by organizational features of the prison that are almost entirely governed by (poor) managerial decisions. A riot carrying a death toll of this size demands investigative reporting.
115
This is a failure of the state to protect the safety and security of the prisoners. The governor should resign. The warden should resign. The officers on duty should resign. If prisons are not safe enough to keep things like this from happening then they need to figure something else out. Our justice system makes mistakes, which are unacceptable, where innocent people are locked up for crimes they did not commit. What if one of those people that were killed were innocent? What a disgusting injustice to our country.
48
“Lee Correctional Institution, which opened in 1993, houses about 1,500 male inmates.”
A prison houses no one but inmates. It’s ok to say “1,500 men” or even “incarcerated men” if you feel the need for specificity or rhythm.
The adjective “male” lends a pseudoscientific veneer and reinforces stereotypes that prisoners are somehow less than human. It should be used very carefully when referring to incarcerated men. They don’t need to be dehumanized more than they already are.
33
What? We can't call inmates inmates? Or is the problem calling them male as opposed to men? We have to call them incarcerated? What about calling them prisoners? That's semantics and opaque semantics at that
9
I have no problem with this. Dehumanized? What did they do to their victim(s)? Live right & maybe this won't happen to you. My tears are for victims only.
8
I thought describing all the inmates as "male" indicated that there no females there. No more, no less. Why is a specific word that refers to gender suddenly a "pseudoscientific veneer....for stereotypes?" This is pc thinking run amok!
1
Last week, the Times ran a hit piece on private prisons so it’s not surprising that they withheld the information that this prison, like Rikers Island and Attica, is government run.
22
Perhaps the U.S. should re-think locking up non-violent drug offenders and other low-level offenders and instead offer services that are proven to be effective and save taxpayers billions thereby allowing state and federal prisons to focus on violent and other felony offenders. It's highly possible the deadly South Carolina riot could have been averted with an increase of resources that are now dedicated to more than a half million inmates behind bars for drugs.
44
"which houses some of the state’s most violent and longest-serving offenders."
While in agreement with your overall thought, I am not sure it applies here. It is doubtful that the states toughest and most notorious prison would be used to house low level, non violent, drug uses who were sentenced to short terms.
This story could have used a lot more detail.
21
Your comment makes total sense. I should have been more clear. I meant taking resources from the facilities that would cut loose the low-level criminals and apply it where needed.
1
This story needs more context about the state of imprisonment in South Carolina. The article needs more details as to who was fighting and why.
55
Diet? -- Investigate if this prison serves up malnourishment? Feeding the prisoners mostly white bread and hard boiled eggs?
Healthcare?
Mental health support?
Education?
Exercise?
18
Why in the world do prisoners deserve education and exercise? That is what's wrong with liberal America!
6
17 dead - That'll teach em. Dangerous job, I agree, but 17 shot dead?
2
Mr. Allen, read the article again. It doesn't say 17 shot dead. It says 7 killed, and the cause of death is not mentioned.
27
The article does not say 17 shot dead. It doesn't specify how many were killed or injured by other inmates, as opposed to by the guards when they retook control. Wait for more information.
7
Read the article again.
1
Let me guess: terrible unhealthy food, severe overcrowding and lack of quality educational/vocational/recreational/therapeutic/addiction programs. See NM 1980 prison riot and all the others on the list of Worst Prison Riots. Do we never learn?
78
You are probably correct on all counts. But, one other point is that when you put all the hard core ruthless lifers into one institution, you will have this kind of "king of the hill" battles. Gang warfare just does not stop at the jailhouse front door. Killers couldn't care less where they are. If you can commit cold blooded murder outside you can kill anywhere. I have no solution. Once a killer, always a killer. Solitary confinement? Castration? Lobotomies? Mental health treatment, education? We have tried it all. Perhaps breaking up these killers into other institutions, i.e, thin the herd, will stop some of the slaughter. I doubt it.
11
There has been some good progress with education. Even lifers who will never get out to use their training or education benefit, and they can become good instructors for those who will get out and need a way to get work. This is pretty much the only argument you can make in favor of spending money on educating prisoners: it works (to keep violence and recidivism down).
7
This is actually a misconception. Murder tends to be a once-in-a-lifetime crime. In other countries where the maximum sentence is 20 years, the rate of repeat killers is practically nil.
17