Life in the big house
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The New Haven Independent, which has very interesting coverage, recently interviewed a man who spent 3 days in New Haven Correctional (also known as Whalley Ave.).
Ventura’s tale offers a peek at the day-to-day impact of the state’s prison overcrowding problem.
He said the overcrowding had worsened drastically since he was in jail two years ago. He said cots have been set up in the cafeteria, the visiting room, the kitchen, the hallways. Fifty to 75 people were sharing one bathroom.
Ventura also charged that the overcrowding is a potential fire hazard, that inmates are sometimes given prison garb that is ripped or dirty, and that some of them are not getting proper medication. He complained that recreation is often canceled, that inmates don’t get enough food, and that he didn’t have a toothbrush or toothpaste while he was inside the jail.
A few days after that story was published, lawmakers toured a “sanitized” Whalley Ave.
“When you have inmates on the floor they have nowhere to lock up their personal property,” [a union rep] said. “The inmates are fighting over the bathrooms — when you have one toilet and 50 inmates, you can see it when they come back from chow — it’s an immediate run for the bathroom and a lot of times we have fights.”
Reporters were able to speak to inmates, although no cameras or recording devices were allowed past the front waiting area. Prisoners complained of unsanitary conditions, poor food, lack of recreation, and in many cases, lack of medical treatment.
But hearing tales of dirty linens and dirty, ripped uniforms — and seeing them firsthand — heightened concerns about MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant strain of staph infection that is spread in crowded, unsanitary conditions, and can be fatal. [The union rep] said it’s “running rampant” inside the jail.
All this comes on the heels of the Gov.’s parole ban and the swift explosion in the number of incarcerated inmates. Next week, the judiciary committee will start its public hearings on the the reform bills. It’s going to be an interesting week.
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Perhaps Mr. Ventura would have less to complain about if he could manage to stay out of jail.
Note to Mr. Ventura: visualize a life where the taxpayers of Connecticut are not responsible for repeatedly having to foot the bill for your toiletries and recreational pursuits.
AntonK said:
taxpayers … to foot the bill
Your mindset is why the prison system is a failure. You have the “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” mentality. The person who says all money spent on prisoners is lost.
How do you control inmates in a prison? Take away all semblance of human dignity, treat them worse than animals, feeding them green bologna and water? Have them sit around with nothing but anger and resentment 24 hours a day?
The tiny bit of funding it takes to provide a little for prisoners makes sense. It greatly reduces prison violence, as the prisoners are occupied and content, thus letting the prison staff spend time on “problem” inmates instead of the whole general population.
With almost all prisoners being returned to society at one point, it makes sense to provide occupational training, treatment for mental and physical problems, and sanitary living conditions.
Thus, when an inmate returns to society, a job will be easier to secure if he has proper training, is in good health, has a stable mentality, and has a positive outlook on society. Otherwise you are just dumping him onto the social service/welfare rolls.
He may say “thanks for helping me out when I hit rock bottom” instead of “screw the world, I’m nothing but scum criminal.”
Actually, I never argued “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” in response to this post. And I only would argue “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” in cases of violent criminals (and I don’t know whether Ventura is violent or not).
All I argued in my comment above is that staying out of jail is the best way to avoid the deprivations of jail. Quite simple, actually.