Confronting Violence and Abuse in Prisons

Prison officials can respond to criminal behavior within their prisons in very different ways as we saw recently in Maryland and Texas. The contrast in the actions of these state officials provide valuable lessons in the proper role leadership should play in confronting and eliminating sources of violence and abuse in our prisons.

In Maryland, Gary Maynard, the Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services, swiftly closed the Jessup prison, a 129-year-old maximum-security prison known for its “history of riots, fights, escapes and attacks on correctional officers” within two weeks of the stabbing of a correctional officer, and less than two months after his appointment as head of the agency.

Within days of his appointment Maynard toured the prison. A correctional officer had been killed at Jessup just seven months before he took over, and he wanted to see first hand if it was as bad as its national reputation. It was, and Maynard was very disturbed by what he saw.

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The Washington Post described why Jessup was so dangerous for inmates and staff:

The red-brick complex's antiquated design was more suited to theories of prison management in place when it first opened in 1878 than to those of the 21st century. Tight corners and narrow staircases made for blind spots that were dangerous for correctional officers to patrol. Screened hallways forced officers to walk long distances within arm's reach of inmates. Thick walls prevented radio communication in some areas. Inmates were able to jimmy outdated locks, allowing some to leave their cells unnoticed.

There had been talk of closing Jessup for over 50 years, and the DOC had a three year plan to phase it out. But Maynard knew that such a prison was unsafe for both staff and inmates, and every day it was kept open put lives at risk. He told the Governor he wanted to close it within 30 days. Then, when the correctional officer was stabbed on March 2, Maynard decided to move his timetable up and transferred all 850 prisoners in one weekend. The prison was closed within two weeks of the stabbing.

I have the honor of serving with Secretary Maynard on the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons. We spent a year together, along with an impressive group of commissioners that spans the political spectrum, focused on one goal: making prisons safer. During the commission hearings we learned that many factors contribute to the culture of violence in our prisons. Antiquated prison design is one, and lack of managerial courage is another. Yet other prisons are safe and healthy places for inmates and correctional officers. The commission report “Confronting the Conditions of Confinement” makes recommendations for how we can make our prisons safer. I hope you will read it. And you can look to leaders like Gary Maynard whose quick and decisive action will save lives of both inmates and officers.

Halfway across the country in Texas, a growing scandal in the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) is a glaring example of what can go wrong without strong and moral leadership. I need to make clear that this scandal has absolutely nothing to do with Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) which runs the adult prisons in Texas. This breakdown of leadership involves the TYC and prosecutorial agencies who have let the youth of Texas down.

In February, the Dallas Morning News revealed that over a period of years several top officials in the Texas Youth Commission repeatedly abused juveniles in their facilities. They were able to cover up their abuse by punishing children who tried to complain about them, and reward those who remained silent about their sexual molestation. One of the administrators even held the key to the complaint box so that he knew which of the children had tried to complain about him or the others who were molesting them.

The leadership of the TYC and prosecutors at each level of government ignored repeated complaints by several brave staff members who complained about the inappropriate behavior they observed, and did nothing about an Inspector General’s report that chronicled the repeated abuse by multiple high level administrators at juvenile facilities. The District Attorney, the Attorney General’s office, and federal authorities all declined to prosecute.

A former internal investigator of the TYC put it very poignantly: "staff are being paid your tax money to rape your children."

The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission has just completed hearings on this horrible situation in Austin, Texas. The proceedings will soon be posted on the commission’s website. I think you will find the testimony compelling. The commission has issued a unanimous statement declaring:

The state’s first priority should be to ensure the immediate safety of all the children in TYC’s custody. We urge the state to immediately develop mechanisms that will effectively protect them from sexual abuse by staff, as well as by other detained youth, and to inform the children of the steps they can follow without fear of retaliation should they experience abuse or the threat of it.

Preventing sexual assault must be a top priority in every detention facility in the United States. Zero tolerance is the only acceptable standard. We hope Texas adopts that standard for the TYC and takes all necessary steps to see that it is implemented.

Jesus told us in Luke 17:2 “It were better for [a man] that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.”

In His service,

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Pat Nolan
President, Justice Fellowship