Prisons Are Growing More Violent — Congress Must Act

America’s prisons are spiraling into violence and chaos — and severe staffing shortages are driving the crisis.

A Reuters review found state prisons becoming deadlier as guard vacancies surge. NPR reports that mental health professionals are fleeing unsafe, unsustainable conditions too. 

And it’s only getting worse at the federal level. A ProPublica investigation revealed that Bureau of Prisons staff are being lured away to higher-paying jobs with ICE — draining already understaffed facilities and deepening instability inside federal prisons.

Democrats in Congress are already demanding answers, but we need Republicans to join them in taking action.

Tell Congress: “Launch a full investigation into prison staffing shortages and pass emergency reforms to protect workers, incarcerated people, and public safety.”

When prisons are dangerously understaffed, oversight collapses. Medical and mental health care are delayed. Violence escalates. Officers burn out and quit, fueling a vicious cycle that makes facilities even more unsafe.

Most incarcerated people will eventually return to our communities. If prisons are violent and stripped of rehabilitative services, public safety suffers everywhere.

Congress has the power to investigate, subpoena records, and tie funding to enforceable staffing and safety standards. But lawmakers won’t act unless we demand it.

Add your name now and tell Congress to take action to end the national prison staffing shortage before more lives are lost.

The petition to Congress reads: “Launch a full investigation into prison staffing shortages and pass emergency reforms to protect workers, incarcerated people, and public safety.”