Two jail guards in Michigan were fired for what they call a “prank” on an inmate. The two guards were eating a meal when the conversation apparently turned to what they could get an inmate to do for a piece of pie. This on its own is not a despicable thing, but when an inmate is let out of his cell and humiliated, that is. The inmate offered that he would streak in exchange for the piece of cherry pie, and the officers obliged. Not only is it appalling that the inmate was let out of his cell in strict violation of regulations, but then he was humiliated to satisfy the guards’ boredom.
If this act happened in corporate America, surely there would be criminal repercussions, but what was the fate for these two guards? They were fired, no criminal charges were brought against them, and their union is even appealing their firing stating that the punishment was too harsh. While this man they humiliated is an inmate, it does not make it okay for people in authority to misuse their power for any reason. While I applaud the powers-that-be for taking action in firing them, that still does not send a strong enough message. How are we to have faith in authority figures when they constantly take advantage of power? And pity on the guards that don’t abuse their power or allow themselves to be corrupted. This incident occurred in August and is just now being addressed which raises another question-Do the prisons even know what goes on in their own house? Apparently not.
Contact the author: msgeek17
1 user commented in " What Gives Them the Right? Corrections Officers Misuse Their Power "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackThose Correctional Officers do not represent the majority of Correctional Officers at work in our nation’s prisons and jails. As far as the inmate being humiliated, well, I find that hard to believe since they did not make the inmate do anything he didn’t want todo. The inmate is a person and capable of making his own decisions. Of coarse this is when I have to hear the normal, “But inmates don’t have the authority to say yes or no,” spiel. If inmates didn’t have authority in one way or another, then how did prison administrators find out about the incident? The fact is, inmates do have some form of authority in prison or jail, even if it is informal due to them out numbering the staff by so much.
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