As Prison Guards Quit in Record Numbers, Will Our Failed System Finally Be Reformed?

In the menagerie of American cultural insanity, few practices can outdo the perversity of our prison system. Racism has always been reflected in the makeup of prison populations, but when we started making it a profit center for corporations, our carceral system became something beyond even the nightmare of prison prejudice. We are now in a moment in which it may be impractical for us to continue to maintain our record-high rates of incarceration. Will we be able to take advantage of it? We are facing a mass exodus in our jails and prisons as guards are quitting in <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/09/26/prison-staff-shortages-take-toll-on-guards-incarcerated-people" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">record numbers</a> and not enough people are looking to fill those spots. In some prisons, the limited support system available to the incarcerated is being shredded as case workers and even teachers are being forced to assume <a href="https://coloradonewsline.com/2023/01/03/low-staffing-at-prisons-in-colorado-leads-to-unsustainable-working-conditions/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">guard duties</a>. In Colorado, for example, the head of the state’s prison system <a href="https://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/colorado-prisons-short-staffed-teachers-case-workers-guards/73-a22d1b94-7d67-46fe-a061-0342e23813bf" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">admitted last year</a> that the system is in crisis, but according to a New York Times article <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/us/politics/prison-guards-teachers-staff.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">published</a> just this week, Colorado continues to struggle with no end in sight. <a href="https://aninjusticemag.com/as-prison-guards-quit-in-record-numbers-will-our-failed-system-finally-be-reformed-bc029e9cf569">Website</a>