Crime & Justice
Prison ministry volunteer alleges bribery and coercion pressures on Texas guards
Pints with Aquinas
I Ministered in a Maximum Security Prison
"I think in Texas the stat is something like one out of four are take bribes and then two out of the four stay quiet and then one usually is just and does try to do the right thing and reports and stuff. But it's really hard when you're in a maximum security prison and someone says, "Hey guard, your wife's name is this. Your child's name is this, this, and this. I'm going to give you $500. You are going to give me whatever I want.""
A guest on Matt Fradd’s Pints with Aquinas recounts volunteering on a Catholic retreat inside a maximum-security Texas state prison and describes what he says are systemic pressures on corrections officers. He claims guards are vulnerable to bribery and intimidation because inmates can gather personal information and offer money, and argues the situation is exacerbated by staffing and funding constraints.
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Pints with Aquinas