| Here are some of the stories the morning after Mitch's private prison erupted into violence.
The Indianapolis Star provides an overview of yesterday's violence: Department of Correction officials said nine people -- two prison workers and seven inmates -- suffered minor injuries in separate disturbances involving a total of about 500 Arizona and Indiana prisoners during a two-hour period Tuesday afternoon.
State officials have temporarily halted the transfer of any additional out-of-state prisoners to New Castle as they investigate the incident.
[...]
The riot prompted a legislative leader to call for the state to cancel the Arizona deal.
"The idea of bringing in people from another state who bring along their gangs, allegiances and different alliances immediately was a mixture that was bound to bring trouble," said House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend. Of course, despite the assertions by the state that they have halted inmate transfers after yesterday's debacle, it appears that the company running the prison had already made that decision before the riot, citing concerns that the facility had insufficient staffing.Gov. Mitch Daniels said Tuesday night the inmates specifically involved in the incident "need to go home" and that he will review the entire out-of-state arrangement today with Donahue.
But even before Tuesday's riot, Arizona officials had decided to stop sending inmates to the New Castle prison because a recent visit raised "serious security concerns."
Dora Schriro, director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, visited the New Castle Correctional Facility on Thursday and found insufficient staffing for her state's 630 inmates, said Katie Decker, a spokeswoman with the department. Schriro also was concerned about where officers were stationed.
"She advised the operators of that prison that she was going to halt the transfer of inmates until these issues were resolved," Decker said. "There were serious security concerns."
Decker said only 37 correctional officers were assigned to the Arizona inmates Thursday. She could not say what that number should have been but said 131 officers would have been required if all 1,260 Arizona inmates had already been transferred. Don't worry though, because the Governor says this was just a "relatively minor incident" that Hoosiers shouldn't be concerned about. Relative to what? Relative to the other privatized prison riots that have taken place in the state and been eventually traced back to insufficient staffing and a completely ignorant disregard of the possibility that inmates may get really, really mad when you move them hundreds of miles away without warning?
Of course, heaven help the person trying to criticize the Governor, because he has no time for the petty people who spend every day "trashing" him. Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker yesterday said privatization of the prison likely contributed to the riot, which he called a "tragedy."
"I think it all ties back to the fact that (the governor) has privatized essential government services," Parker said.
Today the Republican governor said he was not surprised by that reaction.
"Mr. Parker has a hard job. He's supposed to get up every morning and trash me for whatever reason," Daniels said.
"I sympathize with his dilemma. I would just note that this is just part of trying to make decisions, trying to use the best judgment you can. We'll post-mortem this. If you look past the smug reaction and disdain for criticism, you come back to a real problem with Governor Daniels: He doesn't like to admit he is wrong. "Post-mortem?" Hey, here's an idea...why don't we have a pre-mortem next time, and we can have an honest conversation about these privatization policies with the public before something like yesterday's disaster strikes. It's really a win-win for the Governor, because then we can all share in the blame should something go wrong. As it stands though, this was his pet project, and despite his anger and disrespect for the concerns of Hoosiers across the state, he will have to answer for the problems that have arisen. |
