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Three inmates have been killed in the last six months at the U.S. Penitentiary in Lewisburg and at least one corrections officer was seriously injured in the past year.
In two of the cases, inmates wearing handcuffs were slain by other prisoners whose hands were free. Prison officials say it is standard procedure for inmates to be placed in a cell together while handcuffed. Handcuffs are removed one inmate at a time, which apparently provides just enough time for those bent on homicide to kill their still-shackled cellmates.
There is a tendency to dismiss concerns about the welfare of prisoners. It is wrong to dismiss concerns about prison security. We are civilized nation, after all — the most civilized, we would like to believe.
In whatever regard the public holds prisoners, we become baser, ourselves, if we stoop to treat them inhumanely. Our Founding Fathers knew this — adding the ban against “cruel and unusual punishment” as the Eighth Amendment enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
Members of the corrections officers’ union and advocates for inmates agree — the expansion of the special management unit at the U.S. Penitentiary has made the facility a more dangerous place — for prisoners and those working in the facility. Administrators at the penitentiary dismiss the concerns, saying that Lewisburg follows the same policies used in other penitentiaries with similar security levels.
A ll those parties have clear stakes that may color their points of view. We would be better served if there an objective analysis that would help community members discern who is right.
It is far from clear who would be expected to launch such an investigation, though the Department of Justice or Federal Bureau of Prisons would be logical choices.
Roughly 1,000 inmates are confined to the special management unit at Lewisburg, a living assignment made only after the prisoners have demonstrated that they are too dangerous to be housed in the general population.
Within the special management unit, inmates are confined to their cells 23 hours a day. Inmates are never alone though, because they are housed two per cell.
With healthy measures of pride, community members note that the staff at the Lewisburg penitentiary guard some of the worst of the worst criminals in the country.
Historically, there has been ample reason to be proud of the competence, professionalism and courage of those employed at the penitentiary.
But there are really two goals involved in running a correctional facility — do not let the inmates escape and do not allow them to harm one another.
On the latter point, the penitentiary is racking up a worrisome record.
