It is hard to choose just one issue (such as food service) to focus on here, since it seems to be holistic. Yazoo City Low II is the worst I have seen in 23 years of doing time in the state and feds. One problem is pure laziness and a complete lack of concern for the health and welfare of the inmates by staff, which trickles down to the inmates who work in food service, for example. Safety and sanitation is not just bad, it is SCARY!!! This prison went without hot water for the dish machine for over a year. All dishes were washed with cold water for over a year! There are so many rats and cockroaches in the chow hall it is like a horror flick (think Stephen King’s “The Night Shift”). No exaggeration. Why? Because when they announce “main line closed” over the intercom, kitchen staff chases everyone out of the chow hall without even giving people time to finish their food. They scream at you to leave, even if you just sat down. Then they turn off the lights and lock the doors and leave. They don’t give anyone time to clean the tables and floors, finish the dishes or empty the trash containers (which are in the dining area, another no-no). So these trash bins are FULL of food dumped from the trays and left to sit in the dark all night till the morning. The dirty trays, food on the floor, etc. are just left.
Yet if I were to complain, staff would label me a “snitch” and have me run off the yard after unit COs ransack my house and take my stuff. Too many carbs, tiny portions, etc aren’t even the half of it.
The wardens can’t do ANYTHING to fix a single problem in the BOP. And it’s not just because they don’t care; it is also because they are for just 18 months and then they are gone. So they can’t leave a mark. It is the UNION who runs the prison. Them and the lieutenants, case managers and unit managers. (Those two groups are the only reason the FSA isn’t implemented; they hate it and refuse to do their jobs in accordance with the law.). Not the warden.
If we want to fix the problem, a serious staffing and training shakeup is needed and a lot of people need to be fired, but that is not possible because the union likes things the way they are. Period. They will defend the dirty, lazy, corrupt, oppressor-mentality staff, and they will win.