Not Secure Enough: Students should continuously advocate for prison security reform regardless of whether prison violence is in the news

Derek Chauvin — the officer who killed George Floyd — was stabbed 22 times on Nov. 24 by another inmate John Turscak in the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona.

Large controversies of prison security and racial segregation within them are being brought up again after fading in and out of the news over the past few years, with high-profile inmate deaths like Jeffery Epstein in August 2019.

However, the conversation about prison security reform should be continuous. Advocating for reform will impact many Americans, as 5.1% of the population, including 1% of teens, will serve time in prison at some point in their lives, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. 

Based on this statistic, at least 70 students from East may end up serving time in prison one day.

Prison security should be increased and reformed nationwide to keep inmates safe. It shouldn’t take dozens more headlines about prison fights, stabbings and violence before prisons invest more in guards and overall security. Prisons need systemic changes. 

There needs to be a large integration act involving assigned seating, cellmates and activity-based practices in which different races and minority groups are assigned in proximity to each other. The FBI measures that approximately 26% of the jurisdictions and 44% of the prisons reported that gang members under their supervision were joining extremist groups — so security should work to prevent cliques from forming.

By eliminating the ability to conspire against other groups, there will be much less motive for inmates to harm one-another. 

Racism thrives in prisons and has been ignored, with no clear action taken towards change. It’s as if there isn’t a will to change at all, as the inmates are dehumanized because of their actions. I understand that the changes would be costly, yet attacks are constantly happening and it’s just as prevalent as ever.  

Chauvin’s wasn’t even the first high-profile stabbing in recent months. Larry Nassar — the man convicted of sexually assaulting members of the US women’s national gymnastics team — was stabbed in a Florida federal prison in July. 

Now, although these specific instances were arguably deserved, protection of those that are targeted due to racial affiliations is something that needs to be abolished. 

The largest issue presented with this system would be an increase in prison violence, though this could be easily avoided with an overall increase in surveillance as the second solution.

The use of cameras and guard implementations would act as a stricter way to ensure no make-shift weapons are made, like the one used to stab Chauvin. Something as simple as replacing cameras to higher quality, having more on-sight security guards watching over said cameras and a more efficient system of keeping track of any and all belongings of inmates — specifically utensils. 

Not addressing the lack of security especially when it can be solved by something as simple as the integration and elimination of conspiring against other inmates leaves more room for more violent events. Regardless of ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, there needs to be something to prevent discrimination and violence in prisons by the intentional implementation of a wide variety of groups. 

Most importantly, something that could improve our flawed prison system is equitable distribution of lawyers. The advantage of having the resources to have stronger legal teams than the prosecution sets the system up for inequality. By limiting resources of both the prosecution and the defense, the playing field could be leveled out, making for more honest and reflective sentencing.

The real weight lies on the shoulders of those prosecuting and overseeing the set punishments. If we legitimately wanted to fix prison security we would have to do something about the sentencing, as statistics show the disproportionate amount of minorities currently in prison, contributing to the demoralization within them.

Racism and a lack of prison security go hand in hand, and if we eliminate one of the issues, one is bound to better the other within the prisons. By contacting representatives as well as informing many of the issue, a real change can be made. 

It’s hard to empathize with criminals, especially those that are racist. But we cannot lower ourselves to the moral stature of those currently convicted and must prioritize fair sentencing.