Columnist Susan Snyder: Inmates locked up in many ways

Friday, June 4, 2004 | 4:41 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

WEEKEND EDITION

June 5 - 6, 2004

A mother whose daughter sits in prison worries.

Is she healthy? Is she getting enough to eat? Do the other inmates treat her all right?

And as state officials discuss whether to take over the women's prison in North Las Vegas or allow it to continue operating under a contract with a private management company, at least one Nevada mother wonders.

Would it honestly be better if the state took over?

In a petition submitted to the governor this spring, inmates listed a host of complaints against the Corrections Corporation of America management, including poor medical care and poor food. The company will not renew its contract, which expires Sept. 30.

The mother asked that her name, hometown and daughter's crime be withheld, fearing it would identify her daughter and subject her to harassment. But she said the complaints are valid. Her daughter, who is serving a 20-year sentence, is among those who have waited months for reports on routine tests such as mammograms.

"The health care takes forever," the woman said. "They're not organized. They don't always notify (inmates) when appointments are supposed to happen, and it takes awhile to get in. It can take a month, six weeks or two months to get in again."

Don't even get her started on the food.

"The food's really bad," the woman said. "My daughter had to go on a vegetarian diet because they were serving turkey nonstop."

However, the woman said, it could be worse. She fears the state would abolish programs such as college-level classes and twice-yearly chances for the women to order new underwear and sweat suits from J.C. Penney's.

The state-issued prison clothing is designed predominantly for men, and most women inmates are "not going to fit in anything," the mother said.

Don't worry, Nevada Department of Corrections Director Jackie Crawford said Tuesday.

"It would continue, because part of that was our policy and idea," Crawford said. "We allowed some of the inmates to obtain their personal clothing that way. It kind of normalizes that environment as much as possible.

"We build on programs," Crawford said. "We are not going to delete them."

Crawford is confident the state will run a better prison, albeit at a higher price -- an estimated $1 million more annually. Improving the medical and mental health programs are top priorities no matter who takes over, she said.

OK, so prison isn't supposed to be a country club. If the food's lousy and the days are long and boring, maybe people will think about what they've done and vow never to come back. But at some point, these people need the skills and the chance to contribute to the society they eventually will rejoin.

How many embittered, underfed, under-educated adults with chronic health problems do we want hitting the streets? A person with untreated illnesses and no job skills is a burden on society on either side of the bars.

"We want to make these people as successful as possible," Crawford said. "That's my job."

A mother waiting on the outside hopes those promises are kept.

"Or (society) is not going to be prepared when these people get out on the streets," she said.