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| MA prison riot was waiting to happen |
| By burlingtonfreepress.com |
| Published: 07/18/2011 |
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The recent outbreak in a Massachusetts jail housing inmates from Vermont ("Vermont inmates involved in Mass. jail riot," July 10) serves to remind us that saving money on the state's prison budget is crucial, especially in a tight economy, but a penny-wise, pound-foolish approach can instill needless anger, tension and resentment in the person who is incarcerated. Unless the inmate is on death row in a death-penalty state (which Vermont, with rare possible exception in federal murder cases, is not) or unless a Vermont judge imposes "life without" (parole, that is), the person on whom we senselessly heap turmoil will someday be on the streets -- maybe in your neighborhood -- ready perhaps to "pay forward" the stress. The Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) in 2010 contracted with Massachusetts' Franklin County to house about 100 Vermont prisoners in its Jail and House of Corrections in Greenfield, Mass. The goals, then stated by Corrections Commissioner Andrew Pallito, were two-fold: 1. trim daily per-inmate costs (versus Vermont facilities); 2. allow Vermont families the better to stay in touch with incarcerated loved ones just over the border from Brattleboro instead of way down, for example, in Kentucky. Using the Greenfield facility instead of other out-of-state sites is likely to save Vermont taxpayers more than $357,000 per year, projections supplied by DOC to the Legislature show. But in Greenfield, as in any prison setting, it's about more than just the numbers. There is a human cost in the equation. Family members of those incarcerated at the Greenfield facility when havoc erupted on July 7 complain that: Read More. |
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