Prison Reform Ideas from the Inside

By John Bebow | Published: March 4, 2009

When legislators took testimony last week on the proposed prison budget for next year, they got an earful from within the prison system itself from Jim Dennis, who identified himself at the testimony table as a Corrections Department supervisor for the past 13 years.

Dennis urged legislators to push deeper in their quest to cut prison costs. His ideas included:

  • Eliminating taxpayer-funded athletic directors for prisoners. Dennis said the job of planning sports activities for prisoners actually ought to be handled for free by the prisoners themselves, thereby eliminating at least two positions in every prison in the state.
  • Using prisoners with college degrees to help provide education to prisoners, potentially lowering education costs within the prisons.
  • Same goes for trade instructors, Dennis says: “Currently some trade instructors in positions that do not require degrees get paid over $33 an hour. I can agree with this when the trades instructor is teaching some skills, like building trades where the state has to pay out quality salaries to get qualified instructors, but when we pay the same salaries across the board for instructors that teach how to clean and shine floors at our prisons, something is wrong.”
  • Taxpayer funded chaplains in the prison system also do jobs that imprisoned clergy members could handle, Dennis argues. “The state of North Carolina has already eliminated their chaplains from their prison system,” he claims.
  • The prison system suffers from inefficiencies due to sick time accrual policies. Dennis said when he counsels officers about problems with absences and the use of accrued sick time, they often respond: “They are not paying me for it so I am going to use it by the time I retire.”
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    2 Comments

    1. Adam Kaplan
      Posted March 7, 2009 at 9:36 pm | Permalink

      Yes, Yes, Yes… and this is only the tip of the iceberg… Benchmark high performing prisons around the country looking at guard to inmate ratios, food costs, etc. There is much more fat to be eliminated!

    2. Inquisitive One
      Posted July 3, 2009 at 11:31 am | Permalink

      I agree with all the ideas and concerns mentioned above. I also think there are many clergy members that would visit the prisons without payment. I do have a couple of questions for anyone who can answer them. 1)Do they have cable television in Michigan jails and prisons? 2)What type of meals are being served to the inmates?