Comments on the Prison System

If you look at the prison industry as a business, as Governor Guinn does, then it is a roaring success. One study revealed that the State of Nevada has more prisoners per capita than any other State in the Union, and more prisoners per capita than any other nation in the world. You can go to prison in Nevada for possession of a small amount of marijuana. Drug courts are not in the best interest of the prison-industrial complex. The more prisoners, the bigger the budgets for the prisons.

The State has created no incentive to see that prisoners are rehabilitated or that they are released early. The longer they stay, the fatter the budgets, and the more job security for prison personnel.

As an example, any State worker at a prison can get a printout on his retirement benefits in a relatively short period of time. Thousands of pay checks are printed and delivered in a timely manner every month. Yet, in the midst of the Computer Age, the Department of Prisons claims it does not have the resources to accurately calculate prisoners' release dates. Many prisoners remain unlawfully past their release dates. The Department does not care if prisoners stay longer than they are required under law. State workers suffer no penalty for losing a prisoners' records, or for lying to a prisoner about his release date. There is, however, a financial incentive to keep the prisoners past their release dates. No one in the prison system cares about the prisoners' legal rights.

The Legislature and the Director have created no incentives to treat prisoners humanely. Yes, the State of Nevada has a statute on the books that it makes it illegal to treat a prisoner with "willful inhumanity or oppression." NRS 212.020 was enacted by the legislature in 1866. Although there are lawsuits filed every day which alleged inhumane treatment of prisoners, there are. NO reported cases pertaining to that statute. That´s right, no cases pertain to a statute enacted 135 years ago.

Why? There are two reasons. First, public officials protect one another, not the people they are supposed to serve. Second, District Attorneys are not inclined to prosecute guards on the word of a prisoner, no matter how overwhelming the evidence of inhumanity or oppression may be. With no fear of prosecution, some guards (certainly not all) will take advantage of their immunity, and they will deliberately and sadistically harm prisoners.

Yes, prisoners have the right to represent themselves, and yes, some file frivolous lawsuits. However, many prisoners file lawsuits with merit. The State pays a cadre of Deputy Attorney Generals well to defend these lawsuits. The prisoners have little chance of success, even when the facts are clearly in the prisoners' favor. The State's priorities are clear: By dehumanizing the prisoners, the State saves money that would go to the prisoners, and the State can pay bigger salaries and more benefits to the State workers.

Calling the prison system a "correctional system" is a misnomer. No emphasis is put on correcting anybody. Again, nobody in the system has an incentive to do so. Have you ever heard of a Warden getting fired because too many of his former prisoners committed crimes after they were released? Of course not. That is because no one really believes in "correcting" prisoners. No, what drives a Warden is getting more prisoners and getting a fatter budget. The easiest place to cut the budget is with the prisoners.

Prisoners have to fight to get an extra blanket on a cold night.

The prison system does not correct prisoners. It teaches them that Might is Right. The prison makes up its own rules and changes the rules at whim. 1t is ironic, because the prisoners are supposedly being punished for violating the rule of law, yet the prison violates the rule of law every day.

The Nevada prison system is not accredited. There is no accountability, no outside scrutiny. When is the last time a judge or legislator made a surprise visit to a prison and talked to prisoners? The prisoners' families and a handful of people outside the prison system are the only ones who care about the welfare of prisoners. This not a strong constituency. There is no incentive for a legislator to get involved.

The prison system is a bureaucracy. The simple way to prove this is to try an experiment: Ask a prison official about a hot topic, such as the five deaths of prisoners in Nevada in the past three months. Almost certainly you will be referred to someone else, who will refer you to someone else. That person will "get back to you." You will write follow-up letters and get no answer. Or you will be told that it is none of your business. You will NOT get a straight honest answer that tells you the facts.

Yes, you can litigate as to civil rights. That makes little difference.
So long as the public regards prisoners as human scum, rather than as human beings "created equal", nothing will change. People will go into the prison as non-violent offenders, and become bitter people more likely to commit violent crimes. Is that what the public wants?

Proposals:

1. The public needs to demand accountability from the prisons.

2. Public officials need to make surprise visits to prisons and talk privately and confidentially to prisoners and prison personnel.

3. Create an office of prisoner ombudsman.

4. The Governor needs to emphasize civil rights and human rights rather than
just the bottom line.

5. The State of Nevada should apply for accreditation of its prisons.

6. Enact a law that prohibits and punishes prison retaliation against people who want better prisons.

Kind regards,

Spartacus Project of Nevada, in 2000.