Prison Radio Audio Feed

In my last commentary, I talked about the TRUE program in the Cheshire Correctional Institution in Connecticut. It's a program where young prisoners, 18 to 25 years old, are housed together along with a small group of older prisoners, who basically run the unit and serve as mentors. The president of the union representing correction officers in Connecticut, a guy named Rudy [inaudible] is skeptical of TRUE. He feels there's a lack of structure in the program. Specifically, he criticizes TRUE's disciplinary tactics. Punishments can include doing pushups, learning dictionary words, and being fined, instead of being sent to solitary confinement and revoking phone and commissary access. Correction officers are used to using harsh disciplinary tactics, including yelling and using sticks and mace. That's what they do here at Great Meadow Correctional Facility. But it doesn't work. The level of violence here at this facility is unrelenting. So, where is the deterrent effect of solitary confinement, sticks, mace, and