In the wake of the Vaughn Correctional uprising that ended in the death of Steven Floyd, prison reform is on the minds of many. It’s too bad that it took the death of a guard to put prison reform on anyone’s agenda. But this is the way things work in the States, we wait till something spirals out of control before we do something about it.
But some state leaders, prison experts and advocates say the writing was on the concrete wall long ago. Chronic staffing shortages, an over-reliance on overtime shifts, overcrowded facilities and funding shortfalls were all contributing factors in this week’s siege. Such criticisms have been documented in multiple taxpayer-funded reports compiled over more than a decade.
Now, in the wake of Floyd’s death, a cash-strapped state government is under even more pressure to change the way it runs its prisons and treats their caretakers.