Everyone in this country has certain rights to life and protection under the U.S. Constitution, even if a person is in prison or jail. Unfortunately, proper protections for inmates are not always in place despite the work of the government to try to pass laws and other requirements for inmate safety. In addition, when correction facilities do not operate properly, they also put the public at risk. This is what is happening with the latest correction audit in Tennessee.
The state conducted a correction audit at the end of 2019, and the findings tell a story of severe oversight and mishandling of the system. Among the discoveries lawmakers made when reading the report was a lack of proper documentation.
Not only were the causes of the deaths of inmates incorrectly recorded but also the system failed to properly maintain female inmate health records. There were also issues with the reporting of sexual misconduct cases and inmate access to health services.
Furthermore, the audit uncovered financial issues with a loss of over $2 million. This is of great concern to the public since it is tax payer money. There is no explanation for why the system did not collect this money. There is also no plan in place to try to collect the money, which would be an immensely beneficial amount of funding for the correction system.
The mismanagement of funds and of inmates’ safety led lawmakers to insist upon further oversight and management of the correction system from the Correction Commissioner, who agreed to appointing an inspector general. However, there was no final agreement on more investigations or hearings about the matter moving forward.
Source: U.S. News & World Report