This post is a paid advertisement.
Prisons in Mississippi have become a powder keg, with a lit fuse. Not because of the prisoners, but because of the employees – the lack of them. Of course it matters a lot more when one is in your back yard, but this is an issue that impacts all of Mississippi. What’s happening is that living wages and public safety of working Mississippians and nearby residents are at Code Red level.
One prison in South Mississippi needs 275 staff members to be accredited and provide education and training to the prisoners to help them successfully re-enter society as contributing, productive citizens. However, it only had 125 staff members last month? 125! Without enough staff providing these training programs, the return of former prisoners who have underlying mental illness and addiction to everyday life in society can severely affect the likelihood of recidivism as well as raise the expense of corrections in our current annual budget of $300 Million.
Low pay and dangerous work conditions make it difficult to retain workers, and almost impossible to attract new ones. Employees assigned to work 12-hour shifts must be prepared to work 24-hour shifts with the expectation that there will be no one to relieve them. This affects both the employees and the incarcerated. It’s now just warehousing people with classrooms going unused, inmates not allowed out of their cells for fresh air and exercise, and employees being over-worked and in fear for their lives daily. That impacts everyone.
Current political leaders proclaim that “We cut taxes” or “We shrank government!” It sounds nice, but the reality is harsher. The impact is low wages and high turnover of those who protect us, our loved ones and communities. It is imperative that we pay living wages and give raises to our state employees, and not just every 12 years or in elections years. Allowing this cycle to continue is jeopardizing the safety of all Mississippians.
Mr. Hughes is a State Representative and candidate for Lieutenant Governor.
7 comments:
Bring back the chain gangs. Do away with TV, don’t set the air conditioning to below 85, and do away with the education programs unless it is to teach them a trade. Prison in Mississippi is a right of passage for many of our residents who live in that culture. Make it miserable again.
It's the same ole story for Mississippi. Once upon a time Mississippi had a penal system that didn't cost much money, the prisoners worked, fed themselves and helped clean up the state. They also didn't come back after they got out. That's because they were so beaten and abused that it crossed the line in a "civilized" society and had to be stopped. If Mississippi had just not been so damn Mississippi our penal system might be the model for the whole country. Now we have to pay for our past and we ain't got the money. Mississippi.
Parchman Penal Farm had armed trustees 4 decades ago. There are several documentaries on YouTube that contain footage of stripe clad prisoners with long rifles and shotguns guarding other prisoners. How did it work for so long before the federal government put an end to it?
Parchman Farm on YouTube
I'm not surprised to see that a politician's solution to a problem is more government.
As a conservative I do not consider more spending to be a solution to any problem. More state employees and more PERS benefits recipients for taxpayers to support is no solution.
I think the better solution would be to decide if it is worth spending millions of our tax dollars to prosecute and incarcerate people for offenses such as being in possession of organic plant materials.
Yeah that's a real solution. Stop locking people up for ridiculous reasons. Think about it Jay.
Pay raises for state employees and more of them?
What dumbass consultant did this guy hire?
Bring back the "tank judges." Those are inmates given special privileges for keeping the rest of the inmates in line. Very cost effective, and effective in general.
Qualifications: The biggest, meanest, MoFos in the yard.
This also teaches them a trade - they can be security guards/bouncers when they get released.
Has anyone noticed that this Jay Hughes guy is literally the only candidate in recent history who pays JJ for advertising and then allows others to make comments. His willingness to do this seems to support his claims of transparency and willingness to tackle the issues and even opposing viewpoints. I’m starting to care less about politicians who have the same conservative views I do and more about the ones who expose themselves to attack and are as transparent as they say they are. I can’t imagine what government would be like if we had a Lt. Gov. who actually gets legislation done out in the open rather than the back room deals we’ve seen with LG Reeves the last 8 years.
Post a Comment