Prison guards, prisoners: in Texas, you can't tell 'em apart

Austin American-Statesman (subscription), TX
COMMENTARY: JOHN KELSO
04/30/06

excerpts:

The Texas prison system has some of the meanest, hardest criminals on the planet.

And the convicts are pretty bad, too.

It's often been said that there's a thin line between law enforcement and criminals. But at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the line has gotten so thin you could read the newspaper through it.

Look, 148 TDCJ employees were arrested during the first two months of this year. If that pace keeps up, 888 TDCJ workers will be busted this year, which would break the old 2003 TDCJ record of 783 by 105 arrests.

See, the problem in Texas is that our prison system is a major industry. We've got so many darned lockups that it takes 38,600 workers just to keep these joints up and running. And who at high school career day raises his hand when the guidance counselor asks, "Hey, y'all, who in here wants to work at a place where the men bang their dinnerware with a large spoon?"

Hey, it ain't the class valedictorian.