It’s easy to blame the Mississippi Legislature for the state’s current prison system woes, but the truth is that such finger-pointing is inaccurate. The state’s current prison mess has been at least 25 years in the making.
Back in 1995, the current legislature’s predecessors thought they were “getting tough on crime” by adopting the so-called “85 percent rule” which mandated that all state convicts must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences before being eligible for parole. Mississippi’s law was in sharp contrast to other states, where the 85 percent rule applied only to violent offenders.
There were other factors for adoption of the law as well. First, lawmakers were scrambling to help the state qualify for federal funding under a federal crime bill. Second, lawmakers had grown frustrated with erratic discretionary swings by former Parole Boards between periods of tough and then lax parole standards. That brought pressure on lawmakers to stabilize paroles. Many believed the “truth-in-sentencing law” would accomplish that. Not so.
But in fact, what the Legislature did in 1995 was get tough on taxpayers as the 85 percent rule dramatically increased the state’s prison population and therefore the operating costs of the state prison system. The truth is that "the 85-percent rule" should have applied only to criminals convicted of violent crimes, sex crimes, or felony drug crimes.
Corrections officials loudly warned that such a program would create massive prison overcrowding in the state that would force either the rapid need for expensive new prison construction, U.S. Justice Department intervention in the operation of the state’s prison system, or both.
Mississippi reacted to the swelling prison ranks beginning in the early 2000s with following other states into the private prison experiment. The state contracted with private prison companies for a total of six private prisons. Those facilities took on a rather mythic status in some communities as economic development projects.
But around 2008, the state adopted new parole guidelines which began to ease the overcrowding caused by the 85 percent rule. And in 2014, the Legislature In 2014, Gov. Phil Bryant signed prison sentence reform legislation that supporters claimed could save Mississippi some $266 million over the next decade. But the savings realized have not been reinvested in the prison system.
House Bill 585 required those convicted of violent offenses to serve at least 50 percent of their sentences, while those convicted of nonviolent offenses would serve at least 25 percent before being eligible for parole. That saw the state back away from reliance on private prisons until the recent spate of prison violence led MDOC to move some prisons from Parchman to a private facility.
A stable economy has made it harder than ever to hired qualified correctional officers for low wages. The lack of staffing in state prisons and private prisons has led to gang violence stepping into the control void inside the prisons.
Current Mississippi lawmakers don’t have easy solutions before them. Use of the private prisons will come with much higher per inmate costs. Beefing up staff in state prisons will require significant pay hikes. Technology like electronic monitoring isn’t cheap in initial costs, either.
Clearly, solutions will come at the intersection of managing the intake of new prisoners, effective parole policies, and investing in a cadre of correctional officers sufficient to control existing state prison facilities. That will be complex mix for lawmakers to navigate.
The late U.S. District Judge William C. Keady of Greenville, the father of substantive modern prison reform in Mississippi, observed late in his life: “Throughout my handling of the penitentiary case, I endeavored to push but not exasperate the Mississippi Legislature which was the only source of funds with which to operate and improve the penitentiary.”
Keady died in 1989, but his measure of how Mississippi prison reform is financed remains true today.
Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Sid Salter: Prison Problems Have Been Self-Inflicted Woes for 25 Years
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9 comments:
Sadly the pendulum always swings to the extremes. So, yes, the current legislature is to blame. They control the purse and have the ability to change laws. Before you absolve them of any responsibility please tell us what they have done to correct an issue that has been coming for decades.
(:09 -- You are correct -- this issue has been coming for decades. Not 25 years. The system since its beginning has been a problem. Harsh conditions were always tolerated and prisoners were worked sunup to sundown and often leased out to delta plantations. In the mid1960s the Legislature took notice and the House corrections committee took journalists and others on visits to Parchman to call attention to the lack of attention and the squalid inhumane conditions. I was on one of those trips and have photos that show conditions that existed then and obviously have not improved since. Black Annie was the leather strap that was used for discipline. Mississippi has always been a lock'em up and throw away the key state and the mindset of the populace and the legislature has been "they deserve what they're getting." Rehabilitation isn't a word that you hear. The private prisons were a Band-aid and an attempt for the Legislature to kick the can. Serious reform is going to cost money and the state doesn't have it.
For clarification sake, the issues facing Parchman apply to "ONE" unit which houses the worst offenders. Yes this is a crisis but not for the whole prison just Unit 29. Throwing money at it (as in education) is not going to fix the problem! It took Shad White pointing out that our school districts are getting the necessary funds, the problem is the funds do not trickle down from there. Parchman has a similar problem, a leadership problem.
Like all of our government infrastructure in Mississippi, the prison system has been left to rot on the vine for years. Once again, ol' Sid is basically stating the obvious. Politicians from both parties have simply ignored this and other problems for years while they focused solely on re-election and funding from their respective "special interests." The current administration will do nothing new. They will bring in new cronies, conduct "studies," and point the finger at someone else to take responsibility (i.e. Phil saying that it was the prisoners' fault.) Nothing will change. Let's all meet back here in 8 years when Tate is bidding farewell and together recognize that nothing has changed.
in paragraph 3, the article states "legislators were out to get federal funding". that's a good description of the entire focus of the mississippi legislature. nothing but beggars at the door of the federal government. somethings never change.
Email me at kingfish1935@gmail.com. Would love to see those photos.
Listen to me, “ raise you children at an early age that a jail or prison is no place for humans. Your fellow inmates will turn on you in a dime, the gangs can’t protect you, because they have little regard for you. It’s all about money, contraband and power. If you like being raped, sleeping on the floor because an inmate told you, not eating your food because you had to give it away and smelling ass all day, then prison is the place for you. The guards can’t watch you 24 hrs. Solitary confinement/ segregation will drive you nuts.
I know that some former inmates tell you it ain’t bad, but when big momma dies you won’t be around with the family.
We need to stop running getting these young men out of trouble at an early age, stop visiting jails, stop sending money and accepting phone calls.
Signed,
A Former Corrections Employee.
1:51- You are correct that "prison is no place for humans". Unfortunately the streets are no place for some humans either. Some people just need to be locked up forever. For those people I have little sympathy.
However, the majority of people in jail are in for minor crimes like weed or non payment of court fines, child support, petty crimes and the likes. Most of this stems from a drug or alcohol problem and not necessarily from bad families. Sure, it's easy to say most people were not raised to fear jail or respect the laws but the truth is that many a fine family have a member of the family in jail or on drugs.
Regardless of why you are in prison the state must accept the responsibility for your care. If they can't or won't do that then they have no business in the imprisonment business.
2:37 PM Smartest post in this thread.
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