Even if an inmate's sentence is not oppressively long, their treatment while incarcerated can still constitute subhuman treatment. Prisons are not medical facilities, but they regularly are forced to deal with mental health problems and care for elderly and terminally ill inmates. Food, if it's even edible, usually lacks enough nutrition for inmates' health to not deteriorate. Plus, with a lack of opportunities to see family, read, or gain skill sets, inmates are placed in buildings which lack any resemblance of the civilized world.
“After a 28% officer turnover rate and 14% vacancy figure raised red flags in late 2017, TDCJ officials implemented a 12% increase in starting pay and poured more than $9 million into $4,000- and $5,000-hiring bonuses at a couple dozen particularly understaffed units. Still, by the end of 2018, turnover soared past 29%, and by April vacancy rates hit nearly 15%.“
Longview News Journal
June 29, 2019
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