Florida Senator conducts surprise inspections of prisons

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A Florida State Senator conducts surprise inspections of 2 troubled prisons and what he finds is horrific:

http://www.correctionsone.com/florida/a ... d-history/

IMO, we need a regime of surprise inspections at prisons to check the conditions of the prison and for human rights abuses. The UK has such a regime, called the National Preventive Mechanism, formed after ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which the US has refused to even sign.

Surprise inspections are important to see how things actually are done on a day-to-day basis; with announced inspections, it is easier to cover up violations.

I can't say I'm terribly surprised. I doubt that the Senator really was, either.

I'm going to be cynical, and say he has an ulterior motive.

In 2012 he voted against privatizing the FL prisons.

In 2012 he filed a "conflict of interest" notice because his wife is a registered lobbyist for the AFL-CIO union (which represents FL correction officers).

Over the last four years, he's made statements that prison privatization is doing a poor job.

In the article you cite, again he finds problems. Also, note, he interviewed the corrections officers and asked them what they needed. "Pay raises" of course!

He is probably building a case against total privatization.

Paid by the AFL-CIO through his wife? Maybe. Maybe they give her a cushy high paying job because he helps them out.

When I was in the army, we used to follow a variant of the (unconfirmed) old Lenin quote:

Trust is good
Control is better
But the best thing... is a raid!

That being said, the US prison system doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation... perhaps the state senator should be grateful that he wasn't locked up during his visit...

One important thing about these surprise inspections we shouldn't forget is that the Senator was able to have frank discussions with the guards. It is very important for inspectors to interview the people on the ground and in a way that encourages frankness. I think that should extend to inmates, too, not just the guards.