NCJ Number
76404
Journal
PRISON LAW MONITOR Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1981) Pages: 1,11-15
Date Published
1981
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article reports on corruption and mismanagement in the Maine State Prison (Thomaston, Maine), found (in 1980) by Lock-Down,a nonpartisan citizens' watchdog and educational organization.
Abstract
As a consequence of increasing reports about corruption and abuses by prison officials, the Lock-Down Project, with civilian and governmental help, decided to provide an account of the inner workings of the prison, as first secretly, with the help of prisoners, ex-prisoners, and newspapers. Subsequently, the prison was officially investigated. Many cases of mismanagement were revealed. For example, it was found that prison employees skimmed cash from funds derived through illegal activities within the prison. It was also found that prison administrators routinely favored certain convicts and placed them in less restrictive settings in exchange for prisoner cooperation about corrupt activities within the system, and the administrators failed to report these activities for fear of uncovering massive mismanagement. The project also revealed approximately 33 serious health and safety violations. Several recommendations were made to change the corrupt and negligent practices of prison administrators. For example, to oversee the management practices of all correctional agencies responsible for enforcing judicial sentences, an office of ombudsman should be created. The department of menatal health and corrections should submit to regular, unscheduled audits, and the results should be reviewed by the State's attorney general's office. Prison reforms were also recommended, including proposals for community treatment centers for less serious offenders.