As Donald Trump ridiculously tweets insults towards football teams or praises the American anthem, inmates at Rikers Island are being physically abused and slaughtered by inmates and Correctional officers.
Just this week, a woman was charged with sexually assaulting two women in her unit. The aggravated attacks were caught on prison cameras, yet the abuse continued for more than a year. During court sessions, the victim admitted that when she locked the door to shower, the correctional officer would unlock the door to let the rapist in purposely. With more stories coming out, it's becoming increasingly evident that officers working in prison spaces are getting into more dirty crimes than better.
Inside facilities, there are numerous amounts of cases involving rat poison. The poison is utilized by Correctional Officers in order to "play games" with inmates located in solitary confinement (one of the worst rooms on site, only sized about 80 feet). Most times after eating the food inmates throw up, pass out, or have to be traveled to medical assistance. Not to mention, the multiple gangs inside Rikers who are allowed to jump, stab, even kill inmates if protected by sheeplike guards. If an individual is killed on site, it can take more than months for a family member to be notified about the incident.
Besides the corrupt inner life at Rikers, the American prison system has a terrible flaw destroying thousands of individuals lives each year. If one is prosecuted for a crime, no matter if guilty or not; they are still put into the system. Since there are more criminals than public defenders, suspects have to sit and wait months, sometimes years in a cell, to get their first court date. Some individuals spend their entire youthhood in the system to be considered not even guilty. What's worse, many times the innocent are the most bullied and physically abused by correctional officers. This is due to the system believing that the individual(s) who claim they are not guilty, should know their guilt and in turn, be reprimanded for it. I believe criminals who have committed treacherous assaults should be locked up or experience some sense of consequences. Although, it seems unfair to put just "suspects" into the prison system and have them trapped there until the next public defender is available to pursue the case.
Some American citizens like to judge other countries and their downfalls, yet the criminalizing world in the United States, involving both the judicial system and inner prison life, is one of the largest social injustice in the world. Not only killing people locked up but scarring many for the rest of their lives after coming out (and getting no help from officials or job sites).
Unfortunately with Rikers known as the murder capital (and holding over 11,000 inmates) who knows when the next life will be taken; and if/when the government will hide it from the public eye in order to protect the guards associated with them inside.