We received this submission from Socialist Review reader RWK, currently a prisoner in the Otago Correctional Facility. We’re proud to print it here. Socialist Review subscriptions are available free to all prisoners on request.
Back in ’95, when I started coming to jail, prison officers were more confident in their role as wardens. Nearly all of them at that time had been wardens ten, twenty, or thirty years. They were more approachable, and more able to answer questions about policy or procedures. And if they were ordered to take a course of action they didn’t think was justified, they had the strength and conviction to refuse the order and advocate on behalf of the inmates. There were also committees run by the inmates that would liase between inmates and officers. These would help improve the day-to-day running of the prison for both officers and inmates. [Read more…]