Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 18 april 2018

South Carolina's prisons among the deadliest in the U.S.

and stab rival gang mem-
bers. An inmate stabbed
two officers in 2015. At Kirk-
land, another maximum-
security prison, two inmates
killed four prisoners last year
in under an hour.
For the past few months,
The Associated Press has
been communicating with
a Lee prisoner who used a
contraband cellphone to
offer insight into life behind
bars. He said inmates there
roam freely, have easy ac-
cess to cellphones and
drugs, and are often left to
police themselves.
The inmate spoke to AP on
the condition of anonym-
ity because his cellphone
is illegal and he fears retri-
bution from other prisoners.
He described a facility run
by gangs, and guards who
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, left, address the media during a press conference following a prison riot at the Lee Correc- take a hands-off approach
tional Institution Monday, April 16, 2018, in Columbia, S.C. because they fear for their
Associated Press own safety.
In the most recent incident,
By MEG KINNARD jured inmates to hospitals. "The burden comes back for the ability to jam cell- he told AP that officers
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The prison is located 40 to the General Assembly, phones in prison but didn't stayed in a control booth
Twenty South Carolina pris- miles east of Columbia. what are you going to do?" propose any other substan- for hours Sunday night, wait-
oners have been killed at "It shouldn't take five hours he said. tive alternatives. "We do ing for backup as inmates
the hands of fellow inmates to get in there and put Stirling - who served as then- the best we can," the gov- lay dying in pools of blood.
in the past 16 months. The some water on these fires," Gov. Nikki Haley's chief of ernor said. That echoes earlier an-
staggering amount of vio- said state Rep. Justin Bam- staff before she appointed From 2001 to 2014, an av- ecdotes he shared about
lence, which includes the berg, a Democrat and law- him to lead the prisons in erage of 60 inmates died what happens whenever
gang-fueled bloodshed yer whose clients include 2013 - said his No. 1 security annually in state prisons gang fights break out.
that left seven prisoners the families of several in- threat is cellphones, which across the country, ac- "The Crips and Bloods had
dead and 22 injured this mates who were attacked gives inmates unfettered cording to the U.S. Bureau a confrontation just a few
week at Lee Correctional in previous instances. communication allowing of Justice Statistics. In 2017, feet from my cell door
Institution, has some legisla- Contraband cellphones them to commit crimes in- a dozen South Carolina in- and, when the knives, ma-
tors calling for more over- and staffing shortages are side and outside of prison. mates were killed by other chetes, axes, pipes and
sight and transparency at often blamed for many of He said the riot started Sun- inmates. body armor came out, the
the state Department of the department's woes. Stir- day night as a gang war "That's staggeringly out of cops were nowhere to be
Corrections. ling, who oversees 21 pris- over territory, money and proportion," said John Pfaff, found," he wrote in Febru-
At a news conference, ons and more than 19,000 illegal items such as cell- a Fordham law professor ary.
Corrections Director Bryan inmates, has said he's hired phones. who tracks prison data. "It To get away from the fight-
Stirling said officers stormed some of the 500 correc- Stirling has urged the Feder- makes a prison that is sup- ing, the inmate said he
in and took the first of three tions officers he needs, but al Communications Com- posed to be a secure facil- stays in his cell. But the door
dorms back from rioting stresses the need for fund- mission to allow the prison ity - a place with no weap- lock has been broken for
prisoners about four hours ing more officers. to block or jam cellphone ons, a place where you months, so he said he and
after the melee began. He Sen. Gerald Malloy, whose signals to prevent inmates can't leave - as dangerous others jam materials into
said the officers were as- district includes Lee Cor- from using them. as living in the most dan- the lock to try to keep oth-
sembled at the rural prison rectional, said the govern- Violence at Lee and oth- gerous city in America." ers from coming in.
as quickly as possible and ment has a responsibility to er institutions throughout In February, an inmate "ALL of the doors to the
went in only when it was keep the prison population South Carolina is not sur- killed a fellow prisoner at cells are broken," the in-
safe to do so. safe and thinks lawmakers prising, Republican Gov. Lee, where this week's at- mate wrote. "At any time,
After the institution was need to look at whether Henry McMaster noted at tack took place among I can let myself out of my
back under control, it then cost savings in corrections the news conference. Mc- inmates armed with home- cell, to do whatever it is
took more time to get in- has been efficient. Master echoed Stirling's call made knives used to slash that I would want to do."q