The riots in South Carolina prison is only a symptom of America's "prison disease," "crime factories," "gang houses." Envision ""Escape from New York," the movie, and you see America's worst prisons.
South Carolina conservatives should not be surprised their prison enabled riots.
"7 inmates killed, 17 injured in riot at notorious South Carolina prison"
By Jenny Jarvie Apr 16, 2018
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-south-carolina-prison-deaths-20180416-story.html
It was inevitable, the scene in SC.
"Inmates armed with makeshift knives led the deadliest prison riot in the United States in a quarter-century, killing seven inmates and injuring 17 others at a South Carolina maximum-security prison with a long record of violence.
Fighting broke out late Sunday in a dormitory at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, about 40 miles east of Columbia, the state capital, in what officials said was probably a dispute over money, territory and contraband. Inmates soon became embroiled in altercations in two other dorms, and it took authorities seven hours to regain control of the prison."
Well . . .
"Gov. Henry McMaster said the incident was tragic but unsurprising."
"We know that prisons are places where people who have misbehaved on the outside go for rehabilitation and also to take them from the general population," he said. "It's not a surprise when we have violent events take place inside the prisons, in any prison in the country."
What!? The Governor expected this? What are we doing to fix this situation? We will hear about more guards and life and death, but no solution to housing people who have become hardened criminals, bad people. HOW DID THEY GET THIS WAY!?
"39% of Prisoners Should Not Be in Prison" [I'm going with this despite my doubt that the number is only 39% . . . . . ]
By Lauren-Brooke Eisen and Inimai Chettiar December 9, 2016
http://time.com/4596081/incarceration-report/
"Crime exploded in the 1980s and 90s. Officials responded with harsh sentencing laws that had little impact and ironically may have made things worse. Now that crime is down, we need to change our approach. Instead of doubling down on the failed draconian policies of the past, based on vengeance, we have an opportunity to rethink how America punishes people who break the law and ground those decisions in what we know works."
BUT now we have Jeff Sessions who is dumber than a rock when it comes to solving our "incarceration nation" legacy.
"With 2.2 million people in prison, mass incarceration is the greatest moral and racial injustice of our time. We need bold solutions to solve this crisis, but few systemic solutions exist."
"What Can the U.S. Do About Mass Incarceration?"
Conservatives and liberals agree that too many Americans are locked up, but that doesn’t mean solutions will be easy to achieve.
Clare Foran Apr 28, 2016https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/04/ending-mass-incarceration/475563/
"Since far more prisoners are held in state rather than federal prisons, it’s important to note how difficult, if not impossible, it would be to achieve any kind of long-term solution to mass incarceration using a legislative fix exclusively imposed at the federal level."
Questions to consider:
"Here are some other questions left to consider:
What are the best ways to reduce the prison population made up of violent offenders in the U.S.? How could that be achieved with public support, and without threatening public safety?
Does the U.S. too broadly classify what constitutes violent crime, and should that definition be revisited?
If overzealous prosecutors are driving a rise in prison admissions, what’s the best way to enact reform, and what jurisdictional level should those efforts focus on?
Will it be possible to enact criminal-justice reform legislation in a presidential election year? What compromises should be deemed acceptable, or not acceptable, as lawmakers attempt to increase bipartisan support and overcome objections?"
Mad Max world.
