AUSTIN, Texas -- May I suggest that the governor of Texas get his rear back
in this state long enough to call a special session to fix the mess in the
prison system before the mother of all prison riots occurs?
How many times does he need to be warned? How much clearer could this
possibly be? Texas prison guards are underpaid and overworked; the prisons
are understaffed, and more guards walk off the job every week, leaving the
prisons more dangerous for everyone in them, guards and convicts alike.
Tuesday's riot at Lamesa, with one prisoner dead and 31 injured, is the
sixth time already this year that we have had violent episodes in the
prisons. Twice this year guards have been taken hostage. In December, a
guard was stabbed to death, and there was a riot at the Beeville unit.
AFSCME -- that's the American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees (called "Afs-me"), the union that represents the prison guards --
has been screaming about the situation for more than two years. The union
has repeatedly warned the Legislature that low pay and fear are driving the
guards to quit, leaving fewer guards, and causing more fear and more
walk-offs in an increasingly dangerous cycle.
AFSCME reps worked like dogs last session to get a raise for the guards,
who now earn a top salary of $26,724 a year after 21 months on the job. But
it was a hopeless fight from the beginning -- the governor wanted every
nickel of the surplus for his property tax break, and the Ledge's motto in
'99 was "Now, let's not embarrass the governor."
Well, it's sure going to embarrass the governor if we have a major prison
riot in the middle of his presidential campaign. Not to mention the
inexcusable, inevitable loss of life.
The consequences of George W. Bush's determination to get a big tax cut
last session are now showing across the board. We already had a remarkably
tight state government. Now we're trying to do even more with even less in
our notoriously low-tax, low-service state. It is an open secret that one
state agency after another is over-budget.
No matter how messy things are next session, we can't wait until next year
to do something about the prisons. And the problem is not that we put so
many more people in prison and keep them there longer; the incidence of
violence in the prisons has far outstripped the growth in prison population.
The prison population has roughly tripled in the past 10 years, but the
incidence of violence has gone up by a factor of 10. Nor is this due to the
once-notorious overcrowding in Texas prisons. Former Gov. Ann Richards set
this state on a prison-building binge, the likes of which we have never
seen.
The guards and officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
(TDCJ) agree that today's prisoners are younger and more violent; because
they're serving longer sentences, they feel they have nothing to lose. The
parole system is barely functioning, so there's not much incentive for good
behavior. Gangs are rampant, and there is all but open race war in many
prisons.
The guards are subject to "chunking," which, to put it bluntly, is the
practice of throwing excrement at them. How'd you like to have that happen
as a regular feature of your job? No one is going to claim that the guards
are all "parfit, gentil knights" -- there are some pretty rough customers on
this side of the bars, too.
According to Allen Breed (a former director of the National Institute of
Corrections and the outside expert brought in to study the system for a
court hearing), Texas prisons are plagued with an excessive use of force by
guards, and the state has "a greater degree of excessive force than any
other state I've ever looked at." He blamed a "culture" of violence among
poorly trained guards. But understaffing increases the guards' fear, leaves
them more vulnerable to abuse, and doubtlessly has a deleterious effect on
their otherwise lovely manners.
The economics of this are simple. We mostly put prisons in depressed rural
areas. (By the way, this is an incredibly stupid practice because it makes
it that much harder for prisoners' families to stay in close touch with
them, and families are the major inducement to good behavior.) The state
tends to use prisons as a form of economic development; and in hard times, a
steady state job is valued.
But in a tight labor market, even in rural areas, how many people are
willing to work 12-hour shifts and put their lives on the line for a max of
$26K a year? Many of them have other jobs in addition.
Until a guard racks up 240 hours of overtime, there's no pay for
overtime -- only comp time. But requests for comp time are often turned down
because of understaffing. AFSCME is asking for $34,000 a year and a
significant increase in the number of guards. It's a $254 million package.
Relations between TDCJ administrators and the guards are not good; many
guards believe that if they speak out about conditions in the prisons, TDCJ
retaliates with disciplinary action, which TDCJ denies.
Ironically, Daniel Nagle, the guard stabbed to death in December, earlier
that month stood up at a rally in Austin and said "someone would have to
die" before state officials realize that the prisons are dangerously
understaffed and the guards underpaid, overworked and in danger. That was
six months and a couple of riots ago, and we're still waiting.
I have never understood why state agencies try to cover it up when they're
having serious problems. It seems to me -- and I have seen it done -- that
screaming to high heaven, "We can't do this without more help!" is the only
way they're ever going to get any.
Pretending that it's all under control while the situation continues to get
worse is nuts. TDCJ ought to encourage the guards to speak out.
It's time for a special session. I don't want to be overdramatic about
this, but the blood will be on Bush's head if something isn't done soon.
Molly Ivins is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. To find out more about Molly Ivins and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers
and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.
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