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U.S. Prison Corruption Enlightenment On Injustices Within Prisons That Are Disregarded
U.S. Prison Corruption Enlightenment On Injustices Within Prisons That Are Disregarded
Prison Corruption
Karina Rosario
Mr.Janosch
11/30/18
U.S. Prison Corruption
On February 15th 2016, police arrested Jeffrey Green, a former correctional officer at a
Westchester County Prison for “violating the constitutional civil rights of an inmate, through
cruel and unusual punishment and abusive sexual contact” according to the Manhattan U.S
Attorney's office. Green pleaded guilty and will do up to one year in a federal prison. Green's
case is just one of the few that actually get reported, many times sexual assault and abuse within
prisons goes ignored or is buried. (Bekiempis) Incidents like this can put prisoners at a risk
where they are afraid to speak up or report anything because they would be going against a
person who overpowers them. The United States prison system is corrupted by abuse of power,
inhumane treatment and procedures, and a general disregard of basic human rights, therefore as a
society we must shed light on the events that go ignored where people aren't being treated like
people.
First and foremost, one of the key problems that contributes to the corruption of US
prisons is an abuse of power. Many times, incidents involving abuse of power that happen out in
public are recorded and posted all over social media and gain attention from all corners of the
country.These abusers often are lightly if even punished which can lead to the encouragement of
abuse. However, in prisons there is no one to record or report the abuse of power. Officials
within a prison are allowed to punish inmates for breaking any rules. But some consequences do
not match up to the rules broken. In April 2016, Terrill Thomas was found dead in his cell from
dehydration after being held in solitary confinement for seven days, he was deprived of water
and a mattress by the jail staff according to Journal Sentinel. Thomas also suffered from bipolar
disorder, a disorder which causes a person so have episodes of drastic mood swings, in Terrill
Thomas’ case he was required to take medications in order to reduce his symptoms. While being
held in solitary, they neglected his disorder and didn’t provide him with his medications, when
punishment within prisons, if an official feels that an inmate is a danger to others or if they for
some reason “deserve” a punishment, they are put in a single cell and lose all of their privileges
like recreational time, visiting, phone calls etc. This is an abuse of power because officials use it
as a way to scare inmates, because they can throw them in solitary for any reason, with Terrill
Women’s prisons also suffer when it comes down to the abuse of power. Many of the
guards within these prisons are male which gives them full power over the female inmates, this
has led to multiple rape cases reported and many unknown. On May 18th, three Brooklyn prison
supervisors were charged with sexually assaulting female inmates. Prosecutors say that one was
charged for repeatedly raping an inmate before she was going to be deported, the second was
charged for reportedly sexually abusing inmates secretly by making them “clean his office” the
third man was charged for receiving oral sex from three inmates. (Goldstein). “the defendant
warned Jane Doe not to tell anyone what had happened, telling her that she could receive
additional time in prison if anyone found out.” (Goldstein) “Local jail authorities reported 2,042
allegations, of which 284 were substantiated. About half (51%) involved allegations of
nonconsensual sexual acts or abusive sexual contacts of inmates with other inmates, and half
(49%) involved staff sexual misconduct or sexual harassment directed toward inmates.”
(Rantala,Rexroat, Beck) The officials in charge can hold whatever they want against an inmate
to get what they want. Prison Systems need to be more attentive to who they hire, and should be
June 2012, guards forced Darren Rainey, a 50 year old schizophrenic man into a boiling shower
for nearly two whole hours. They claimed that it was an accident but witnesses reported Rainey
screaming that the water was burning him and was too hot, they also reported seeing steam
coming from the shower. “Some inmates said the shower was used to punish prisoners with
mental illnesses by exposing them to brutally hot conditions in an enclosed space.”(Brown) this
quote from an interview implies that this might be a common thing to do with inmates.This
procedure is similar to when someone sprays their dog with water or shakes a can of coins to
frighten the dog so that they become obedient, the inmates with illnesses are treated as animals
that need to be tamed. The government should have trained officials check in on prisons often
Execution, also known as death row is a major controversial punishment, it is the penalty
where a person is sentenced to death based on the crime they commit. The death penalty has
been fought against over the years because people believe no crime is worth someone’s life.
Often times innocent people are put on death row and it is a mistake that cannot be undone.
Others argue that murderers should be given the death penalty because they owe a life. “Only 20
people were executed in 2016 and only 31 people were sentenced to death. Yet serious claims of
innocence and unreliable evidence persist.” (Jackman). To avoid the disputes over the wrongness
of the death penalty, courts should be thorough with investigations and making sure all of their
The general disregard of basic human rights is an immense factor in corruption. In most
prisons, they are not supplied with basic necessities like deodorant, especially in women’s
prisons. The availability of sanitary supplies like tampons is limited, and when they are given,
they are of the cheapest most ineffective quality. It is up to the guards if they want to allow
women the access to sanitary supplies furthering the risks of abuse, therefore depriving them of
something as simple being sanitary which can lead to infections (Jeltsen). The argument that
women’s sanitation items should be free goes on everywhere not just in prisons, big companies
take advantage of the needs of women and it needs to stop. People need to be more aware of
what women have control over, and women in prisons especially should be offered free products,
Big companies take much advantage and are the top reason for is the slave labor in
prisons. Federal prisoners make up to $1.25 an hour doing jobs that are worth up to 10 times that
amount.(NewsOne Staff). Big companies like Microsoft and Nintendo at one point have used
prisoners to save money because they didn’t have to pay them as much to make their products.
These companies absorb an abundance of profit, while their workers struggle to make any. The
inmates also don’t have a choice when it comes to if they work or not, they’re often threatened
with solitary. What doesn’t add up is that despite all the profits being made, many prisons are
underfunded in areas such as programs for education, nutrition and overall health.”proposed
reducing the minimum number of meals down to two per day, and prison officials are
increasingly outsourcing food service to private contractors to slash food costs.”(Santo, Iaboni).
There is not enough money to give the increasing number of prisoners quality meals daily, an
improper diet can be a problem for anyone. “We’re losing 57 percent of our hires within three
years, so it’s impossible to be effective when the turnover rate is that high.”(Pederson). The lack
of money in the prison system affects wages of officers too, they aren’t paid enough to do a job
as rough as being in charge of prisoners. This leads to a less controlled environment as they
cannot afford to hire enough officers. “Until you get the jails properly manned, inmates aren’t
going to get what they need,”(Pederson). To solve the underfunding issues, the big companies
that make million off of prisons should contribute enough money to help the system remain
organized and fully functional while also tending to the needs of inmates.
In conclusion The United States prison system is corrupted by abuse of power, inhumane
treatment and procedures, and a general disregard of basic human rights. Many incidents that
violate procedures and laws are not reported, and even if they are caught the charges and
punishment if even given are light. Also many United State Prisons are extremely underfunded
in important areas like education and nutrition, it doesn’t help that inmates are a part of a
nationwide slave labor scandal run by companies as big as Nintendo. Inmates are constantly
treated like animals, degraded, threatened, abused and blackmailed making their time harder to
serve. This is just a small window of what really goes on behind prison walls. It is the
government's responsibility to make sure prisons are funded and ethical. It is society’s
responsibility to shed more light on these issues to make progress and fix them.
Works Cited
Bekiempis, Victoria. "Bedford Hills correctional officer admits sexual assault on inmate." NY
Daily News. N.p., 03 May 2017. Web. 07 June 2017.
Report, Advocate Staff. "Angola corrections officer arrested after caught with drugs, cell phones
at prison, DOC says." The Advocate. N.p., 13 May 2017. Web. 07 June 2017.
Carpenter, Jacob. "Inmate's dehydration death came after litany of errors, policy violations, ex-
2nd-in-command says." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. N.p., 26 Apr. 2017. Web. 08 June 2017.
Goldstein, Joseph. "Brooklyn Prison Supervisors Charged With Sexually Assaulting Inmates."
The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 May 2017. Web. 15 June 2017.
Jeltsen, Melissa. "Providing Free Pads And Tampons To Incarcerated Women Is About More
Than Hygiene." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 June 2016. Web. 15 June
2017.
Staff, Newsone. "Big Business Or Slave Labor? What Prisoners Make In Jail." News One. News
One, 10 May 2012. Web. 15 June 2017.
Jackman, Tom. “Essay: The Problem of Innocence in Death Penalty Cases.” The Washington
Post, WP Company, 28 Aug. 2017.
“What's in a Prison Meal?” The Marshall Project, 5 Jan. 2018,
www.themarshallproject.org/2015/07/07/what-s-in-a-prison-meal.