NC prisons are a mess and lawmakers must act

NC Newsline

No one ever said our state prisons would or should be cushy places to live and work. But neither should they be decrepit dumps in which an underpaid and understaffed workforce struggles to cope with an inmate population that is at once aging and unhealthy, and increasingly hopeless and prone to violence.

Unfortunately, as a recent legislative hearing made clear, that’s pretty much where things stand today.

As Department of Adult Correction secretary Leslie Dismukes told lawmakers, thanks largely to low pay and lousy working conditions, at least 13 prisons have an employee vacancy rate of over 50%.

Meanwhile, the system now has a running tab of 1.4 billion dollars in deferred maintenance. Indeed, fire suppression systems are outdated or completely inoperable in 23 prisons and several lack air conditioning – a fact that guarantees more illness and violence.

The bottom line: As with so many other problems plaguing state government, the solution to this crisis is no mystery—lawmakers simply must appropriate better funding. And their ongoing failure to do so is inexcusable.

For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.