NYC Prison Guards Union vs. Humane Treatment of Prisoners
At The New York Times, reporter Michael Winerip has a fascinating profile of Joseph Ponte, the new correction commissioner appointed by New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio. A former corrections chief in Maine, Ponte will now be responsible for running one of the country's largest and most notorious correctional systems. Ponte's agenda for that system, the story notes, centers on curbing the mistreatment of inmates "by reducing the use of solitary confinement, overhauling mental health care, and welcoming advocates and reporters into the prisons." And while Ponte does not officially start work until Monday, his plans have already earned him a very powerful enemy from the ranks of organized labor. As the Times explains,
even before starting his new job Mr. Ponte was under attack by the longtime president of the correction officer union, Norman Seabrook, who is considered one of the most powerful union leaders in the state. Mr. Seabrook wants more punitive segregation of inmates, not less. He believes many inmates pull stunts like drooling all over themselves to fake mental illness and stay out of solitary confinement ("bing beaters"). And the last people he wants to see on the Rikers cellblocks patrolled by his rank and file members are advocates talking to prisoners, who, he says, will lie to them anyway.
Mr. Seabrook said Mayor Bill de Blasio made a big mistake bringing in someone who oversaw a rural prison system to run Rikers, one of the country's toughest city jails.
"Bad move," he said.
This is not the first time a prison guards union has opposed reform and thrown its weight behind harsh measures—and it won't be the last. As Reason TV reported in October 2012, California's powerful Correction Peace Officer's Association has been "unrelenting in its advocacy for tough-on-crime laws, including California Three Strikes, under which any third-time felon can receive a 25-year to life sentence, even if the crime is not a violent, 'serious felony.'" Why? Because, as Adrian Moore, vice president of Research at the Reason Foundation, pointed out in the video, "[the unions] are following their own self-interest, which is to have the prison system in California continue to be large and to grow over time, and they have been very successful at that."
Time will tell if Seabrook and his union allies in New York City will be equally successful as they fight the new correction commissioner's attempts at reform.
Watch Reason TV's "Crowded Prisons, Unions, and California Three Strikes" below.
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Prison guards are people who were too stupid and/or violent to be cops.
I take issue with your assertion that prison guards are human.
Considering how many prison guards are later convicted of felonies, you’d think the union would advocate for softer laws and more forgiveness.
Prison Guards: For when you’re too incompetent to be a mall cop.
“one of the country’s largest and most notorious correctional systems”
Cook County Corrections is out in the lobby, laughing.
Well, you can’t give Chicago all the glory.
Cook County Jail is like its own little world – a very depraved and violent little planet it is. And then there are the inmates…
Suddenly I can’t remember the quote exactly, so I will wing it.
If you visit a prison you will see the very worst that humanity has to offer. You will also see prisoners.
-Samuel Clemens
Ex-ball player Lenny “Nails” Dykstra just filed suit against sheriff deputies in Los Angeles who administered a jail house beating. Sheriff deputies said Dykstra jumped them and this justified knocking out his teeth.
Hmm. Lenny Dykstra and LASD. Tough call on who to root for.
Add another one to the “PubSec Unions Are Undiluted Evil” binder.
What volume are we up to now, anyway?
24a
Oh, not counting the pocket parts.
“Binders full of pubsec unions!”
We plebes have plenty to hide. That’s why our minders can’t afford concessions for privacy or oversight.
I know. If it wasn’t for the constant monitoring of Big Brother, I would obviously be the head of my own secret super-villain organization bent on world domination via orbital death rays.
Everybody’s got something to hide.
Well, everybody except for me and my monkey.
Only liberals care about people.
Also, It’s all the fault of big kkkorporate kkkorrections.
But can we get progressives to come out in favor of strenuous mandatory sentencing for non-violent criminals? Union solidarity, and all that?
I know that prison reform is a good idea. But anything that has the support of William Wilhelm, d/b/a Bill DeBlasio, is automatically suspect in my mind.