The Feb. 18 editorial “Death behind bars,” which called on the Federal Bureau of Prisons to reform itself to better protect its incarcerated residents, was welcomed by everyone who advocates for those in prison or in jail.
Prisoners are increasingly spending all day in their cells for weeks or even months at a time, as unit- or prison-wide lockdowns become increasingly the response of choice to everything from assaults to staff shortages. Cells are the size of large bathrooms, and there is room for two adults only by squeezing them into bunk beds. When two cellmates don’t get along (or even when they do, when the lockdowns are long) or one of them has a mental illness or drug habit, forced cohabitation is dangerous — triggering everything from mental breakdowns to homicides.
At the high-security federal penitentiary in Tucson, one cellmate armed with a knife threatened to kill the other, and when staff members didn’t take it seriously, the resulting assault caused the entire prison to be locked down for a month — triggering a murder.
The Bureau of Prisons should study European countries, such as Norway, and overhaul everything about the way it trains staff and treats the prisoners in its charge.
Pam Bailey, Washington
The writer is co-founder of More Than Our Crimes, which advocates for individuals in federal prison.
As a longtime employee of the Bureau of Prisons, I’d like to fill in a few gaps in the recent reports on inmate deaths. First and foremost, the agency has turned a blind eye to the staffing crisis that has been ongoing since 2017. Our prisons are full but lack the staffing to properly manage those in our care and custody.
There have been a few inmate suicides at the facility where I work. One death is too many. Our staff members are overworked and underpaid. We’ve been told to “do more with less” staff. We are tired, burned out and stressed out.
We don’t want unnecessary deaths, but that’s a management problem that goes unchecked all the way to the top. Follow the money and you’ll find waste, fraud and rampant abuse of taxpayer money. Our situation is dire, but inexperienced leaders are running us into the ground.
Change starts at the top. We’re all tired of doing more with less.
Aaron McGlothin, Mendota, Calif.
The writer is president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council of Prison Locals-33 Local 1237.
