Prisons Despise Scrutiny
By Charles Diorio, January 1, 2023
Prisons are restricting access to the public and courts because they are afraid their reprehensible tactics and practices will be observed and changed. Prison officials are comfortable with their power. Politicians and the United States Supreme Court allow deference in the operation and conduct of guards, staff, and authorities who run these places.
Most prisoners are poor and uneducated. And prison authorities are severely restricting access to law libraries, typewriters, and materials. Guards and Wardens are emboldened by judicial decisions that allow them to do this.
A cheap plastic typewriter now sells for over $400.00 dollars in Massachusetts prisons. In MCI-Norfolk there are just two typewriters that inmates must use while locked in secure steel cages making typing documents nearly impossible.
In NCCI-Gardner, prison officials close the law library citing ''staffing shortages'' and it's nearly impossible to get legal photocopies. In MCI-Shirley inmates are severely restricted from movement to the library. And in the maximum security, Souza-Baranowski prisoners are allowed only 90 minutes of law library per week.
These restrictions are allowed by both federal and state courts which have abdicated their authority over our nation’s prisons. In progressive Massachusetts, prisons are treated as political patronage mills. No politician or judge dares interfere with their operation.
Many prisoners don't dare speak out. Most prisoners are willing to accept the little bit allowed, knowing prison officials can take everything all at once and at any time. Fear guides behavior in prisons nationwide. Fear of loss. But, in Massachusetts so much has already been taken there's really nothing left to lose.