Source: Kristen Cherye

Source: This piece was originally posted at The New Democrat 

This is what happens when you house the worst of the worst together. You have these violent criminal inmates who see their time in prison as nothing, but survival. And making their lives as comfortable as possible. And I do not have a problem housing these people together to isolate them from inmates in other prisons who simply want to do their time and go home. Or make their life sentence or long-term prison sentence as comfortable as possible. As long as these prisons are doing whatever they can to improve the behavior of these inmates. And showing them what life can be like if they behave in prison and give them opportunities and incentives to improve their behavior so they can prepare themselves for life on the outside. Or have a productive life in prison if they are doing life sentences. But if prison is nothing more than a zoo or warehouse for the worst among us and it just becomes about survival for the staff there, you are going to continue to see violent outbursts.

Kristen Cherye: America’s Hardest Prisons- National Geographic Documentary