by Timothy Head
It is often credited to Dostoyevsky that a nation can be judged by the condition of its prisons. If that is true, then Americans should be deeply concerned. Too many of our country’s prisons are places of despair and abuse, plagued by understaffing, crumbling infrastructure, and chronic violence – and Tennessee is no exception. This has become clear with the recent incidents at Trousdale Turner, state auditing reports, and a report from the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC).
Like police officers, corrections staff are, by and large, devoted community members and public servants who play a critical role in operating the justice system. Sadly, however, the stresses of their profession – which are significantly exacerbated by understaffing – leads to dramatically lower physical and mental health outcomes, as well as higher suicide rates for corrections staff.
This is important because corrections staff play a critical role in fulfilling one of the core functions of our prison system – rehabilitation. Rooted in the need to promote public safety as well as the value and spirit of redemption, our prisons are supposed to help incarcerated people turn their lives around and return to society and their families as productive and reformed individuals.
However, when prisons are understaffed and under-resourced, education, job training, drug rehabilitation, medical care, and other critical programs are often cut, and prisoners can be forced to forgo urgent medical treatment and endure lockdowns that can last for weeks. In turn, this decreases their mental and physical health and increases recidivism rates. In other words, the crisis in prisons is not contained inside their walls. It spills out into communities in the form of increased crime and reduced public safety.
Luckily, there are proven commonsense solutions, like the creation of an ombudsman office, that were discussed at a recent hearing of the Tennessee Senate Corrections Subcommittee. An ombudsman office provides a point of contact for officers and those incarcerated to elevate concerns for further investigation. Currently, 20 states plus the District of Columbia have some form of correctional oversight.
This idea is neither novel nor controversial. Tennessee itself previously had legislative oversight of its corrections system before it was disbanded in 2011. And just this year the entire Tennessee Congressional delegation voted for federal legislation that creates oversight of federal prisons.
As Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) impressed upon the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) at the recent hearing, the fact that lawmakers like him, who are elected to represent taxpayers’ interests and protect public safety, are unable to access even the most basic information from the TDOC is compelling evidence that greater responsibility is long overdue. It is time the state takes action to protect corrections workers and incarcerated people, and in doing so, close the “revolving door” of recidivism. The creation of an ombudsman office will help keep costs down, ensure responsibility for prison conditions, and ultimately, improve public safety across Tennessee.
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Timothy Head is the national executive director for the Faith & Freedom Coalition. He played a pivotal role in creating several legislative bills passed in recent years – most notably, the landmark federal prison reform bill commonly referred to as the First Step Act. He also serves on the board of directors of the Council on Criminal Justice.
It seems that the idea of “rehabilitation” far outweighs the overall good of society. There was a time when inmates were actually required to work in exchange for the cost of their care. However it appears that has been replaced by all types of counseling and support systems. But the repeat offender rate has surely not improved under this new model. And here all along I thought that the purpose of incarceration was to punish the criminal. I suppose I just do not have compassion enough for today’s touchy-feely world. I place my compassion with the victims.