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Editorial: Scott smart to make changes at Department of Corrections

 
With the Legislature’s failure to act on desperately needed prison reforms, Gov. Rick Scott wisely has decided not to wait any longer for changes at the troubled Department of Corrections.
With the Legislature’s failure to act on desperately needed prison reforms, Gov. Rick Scott wisely has decided not to wait any longer for changes at the troubled Department of Corrections.
Published May 18, 2015

With the Legislature's failure to act on desperately needed prison reforms, Gov. Rick Scott wisely has decided not to wait any longer for changes at the troubled Department of Corrections. The governor's executive order ensures that the department will begin to work on an overhaul following a series of suspicious inmate deaths and allegations of abuse and corruption by prison staff. This is a good first step that should begin to create a more nimble department and provide a safer and more humane environment for inmates and staff.

In an executive order issued Friday, Scott directed Corrections Secretary Julie Jones to beef up training, security and accountability measures. The changes include increasing the number of security and institutional operations regions around the state from three to four. Each quarter, the director of each region will now make at least two unannounced visits to each correctional facility in his or her respective region. Directors also must maintain an environment where retaliation against staff or inmates who speak out against wrongdoing is prohibited. Separately, Scott ordered training for corrections personnel who conduct sex abuse investigations, and he required tracking of the use of chemical agents and incidents involving the use of physical force.

Scott's move comes after the Legislature failed to reach a deal on prison reform. House members had pushed legislation calling for more officer training, felony charges for officers who abuse inmates and increased building inspections. The Senate wanted a more comprehensive plan, including the creation of an outside oversight commission. The two chambers appeared near a compromise when petulant House lawmakers abruptly adjourned three days before the scheduled end of the regular session, making prison reform an unintended casualty in the fight over the state budget and health care policy. Senate leaders have pledged to continue efforts to provide oversight to prisons and conduct surprise inspections. And despite Scott's decision to finally require significant changes inside state prisons, some senators still say they intend to move forward with plans to monitor the department.

Making sure that Florida's prisons operate in an effective and safe manner should not be left to chance or to a Corrections Department that has repeatedly fallen short of meeting its fundamental obligations. Scott stepped in only after lawmakers failed to agree on reforms, and his order is a good start even if it fails to address all of the agency's problems.

Lawmakers, corrections employees and families of inmates should pay close attention to the department as it implements these reforms, because it will take a change in attitude as well as policy to force such an entrenched culture to take a more enlightened approach.