"Prison brass warned of dangerous conditions a year ago, but lawmakers did not act," read the headline in Mississippi Today following gang violence and deaths in Mississippi prisons. That was just the latest warning. In 2012, then Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) Commissioner Christopher Epps, now in prison for bribery, pleaded with legislators for more prison guards and higher pay. As reported by the Associated Press, he told legislators that lowest in the nation salaries for his undermanned workforce would only work “as long as we don’t have an uprising.”
In 2015, then MDOC Commissioner Marshall Fisher told the governor’s Task Force on Contracting and Procurement in the Mississippi Department of Corrections his top priority would be to transform MDOC’s low-paid, poorly trained, correctional officers into a highly trained, professional force. He took his transformation plan to the Legislature, asking that his appropriation be increased by $11 million. What did they do? They cut his appropriation by $12 million.
Last year outgoing MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall told legislators her department couldn’t adequately staff the state’s prisons and guarantee the safety of more 19,000 inmates or prison workers unless funding was increased. Again, legislators did little to address the problem.
"The uprising arrived last week when five inmates died at the hands of fellow prisoners and two of the state's largest prisons were rocked by what corrections officials called 'major disturbances' between gangs," said the AP report. "Some observers call them riots." Mississippi Today reported over 100 sheriffs' deputies were sent to the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Sunflower County to help stop the outbreak of violence.
The AP reported severe stress at the three prisons directly run by the state. Only about half of security posts were filled in the budget year ending June 30, 2019, at the main prison at Parchman, the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl, and the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Leakesville. More than 1,000 times, prison employees had to work a double shift because there was no one to take their place.
Hall told legislators MDOC now needs a budget bump of $67 million to hire more than 800 guards. To get those guards, starting salaries would have to be raised. To retain good ones, salaries for existing guards needs to be raised.
These are all issues stressed by Fisher in 2015 and Epps in 2012, but ignored by legislators.
Some background.
Mississippi’s prison system was under federal court orders to improve deplorable conditions from 1972 to 2011. In 2011 sufficient improvements had been made for the court to end its oversight. That was the same year Gov. Phil Bryant and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves took office. Ignoring prison needs began and continued through their terms of office.
Reeves chaired the Joint Legislative Budget Committee last year. Notably, in December it recommended cutting MDOC’s budget again this year. Funding prisons, of course, is not as popular as tax cuts, tax breaks for major industries, or nifty new but non-essential programs.
New legislators will now learn that ignored problems don’t disappear, they become crises. Today the crisis is prisons, tomorrow it will be PERS, health care, the plight of rural communities, roads and bridges, or higher education.
"They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand," – Isiah 44:18.
Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Meridian.
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Bill Crawford: Ignored Problems Don't Disappear, They Become Crises
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25 comments:
Never much agree with this writer but am in total agreement here. He does a good job of clearly outlining the failure of our legislature to act. Who can possibly not connect these dots and see this malfeasance of elected lawmakers and funders. Will the madness continue.
Those who belong to the group called "Lock up the bastards and throw away the key - this ain't no country club" are facing their day of reckoning. And the sister club to that group is the "Let them kill each other" nutcases.
As long as the lobbyists are feeding our legislators steaks and booze at Tico's, why should they give a shit about prisons, education, roads, jobs, or anything else these boneheads are elected to deal with?
It is not just about the money. Paying the existing employees more does not fix the problem. Remember we tried that with teachers:
"Legalize alcohol and we will have the highest teachers' salaries and the best schools in the Southeast."
Then:
"Legalize gambling and we will have the highest teachers' salaries and the best schools in the Southeast."
And our schools still suck.
But now we hear:
"Legalize the lottery and we will fix all the roads and have the highest teachers' salaries and the best schools in the Southeast."
Let's see what Tater does now. He created this mess. If doesn't address it ASAP, the Feds are taking over and demanding funding.
It would appear that a lame duck governor, an election year, and a room temperature IQ MDOC commissioner all played a part in kicking that can down the road.
Reeves has inherited a poop sandwich.
Ignored vs, mischaracterized?
Nearly every politician mischaracterizes issues to further a certain narrative, or minimize another. Leaders in Mississippi have been doing this for as long as I can remember on issues of personal responsibility, family, crime, healthcare, etc. Taxpayers get frustrated when they know the truth, and are gaslighted by government decision makers. It's refreshing to see a leader like Trump clearly describe a problem and take concrete steps to solve it, even though he is sure to rankle the establishment. Conversely, Lumumba mischaracterizes issues that are obvious to everyone and sells them as something they are not, and in the process loses valuable time and initiative.
8:35 am That is some of the worst rationalizing to justify your partisanship or tribal associations that I've ever read.
These inmates are showing their true colors-
You can't blame Phil and Pelica, Tater Tot has refused to properly fund DOC since the day he was elected LG. It won't be long before he blames some mysterious liberal policy for a debacle he created over the last 8 years. Unless the Courts hold his feet to the fire that he will not do what's right.
Perty sure this was the fault of them hollywood liberal elites Tate said he was gonna protect us against. I heard somebody also saw AOC passin out marawanna pills to the inmates.
Dunno how Trump and the dead Iranian terrorist wound up in a comment about this column but I'm not approving it. Has nothing to do with this. You were just looking for an excuse to bitch about Trump. Nice try.
@8:35 AM - that is a great analysis.
What Phil and Tater have done to all of State Government will be evident when the crises start hitting in all agencies whether it’s MDOT and roads, DHS and social workers or MSDH and the next outbreak. The cuts they have made to State Government will have detrimental effects simply because they did not understand the core missions that state agencies serve or did not value or understand what their true purpose served to the citizens of Mississippi
8:35 I agree.
8:35 am That is some of the worst rationalizing to justify your partisanship or tribal associations that I've ever read.
Do lame ass trolls like yourself ever take a day off?
[THEN] a BIG Govt Chicken Little showed up @12:56 to whine that the sky is falling.
Ignored by most, including of course, all the media, is the little fact that the legislature gave MDOC $10 million (that million, with a "M") more money last year for pay increases.
Problem seems to be that MDOC didn't put those additional dollars in the pay of the Correctional Officers, and now they are claiming that the lack of adequate pay is the problem.
Maybe the problem was with the leadership that decided to spend this additional $10 million (along with the needed $1 million for new outfits that didn't have the word "convict" on the back) on pay increases for the staff that they look at every day in their offices.
Lets get the whole facts before we pass the blame on the the legislators (and lobbyists, and everybody else that keyboard warriors want to blame).
6:55 - Your mythical quotes are neat; however, nobody in government ever made those statements, much less those promises. Get back in your cubicle.
10m right when they needed 80m. Your governor Tater. You created this problem now it's yours.
8:35 started off with a cogent and contemplative observation, but couldn't resist swerving into absurdity with a bunch of partisan garbage at the end.
Tate Reeves wins re-election in 2023.
The MDOC thing reads exactly like the Hinds County detention center discussion. Same issues. No fixes.
The day is coming when most prison guards will be robots. Robots who can't be bribed, never sleep, and always use just enough force to kick your ass without maiming you. Inmates will discover little ways to outsmart them and the robots will be adjusted as needed. Eventually the robots will be so good at their jobs that only insane prisoners will think about getting out of line. None of that will happen this week.
Tater will always be a bank teller at heart and this just proves what I've always said about a bank teller's true thoughts on lawbreakers. I forget what I've always said, but it's out there somewhere.
I read the headline and assumed this article was going to be about Crime in Jackson.
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