The state Senate this month authorized a committee to take a deep dive into Georgia’s murderous prison system.
Just days later, the warden at Telfair State Prison got stabbed by an inmate during a shakedown by officials looking to unearth contraband in a dorm. Inmates jealously guard their illegal cellphones, weapons and drugs.
The incident underscored the dire state of Georgia’s prison system. Nothing says drastic changes are in order more than a warden getting shanked.
According to Department of Corrections numbers, Telfair is missing 76% of its essential workforce. There are just 36 correctional officers to do the work of 154. Again, three out of four guards are not there to watch 1,400 prisoners.
That means there are fatigued officers on mandatory overtime shifts, skeleton crews and a sense of systematic weakness that prisoners notice.