Eugene Trent explains how sentencing policies, overcrowding, staff shortages, and prolonged lockdowns are creating the conditions for a prison system collapse in North Carolina.
In the early 1990s, then Governor Jim Hunt decided to pass a new set of sentencing guidelines to get tough on crime—a move that would lengthen the convictions of the guilty to make the streets of North Carolina safer. In the past, the State of North Carolina had what was called the Fair Sentencing Act, but that was to be changed to a new sentencing structure, the Structured Sentencing Act. After Governor Hunt signed the bill, it went into effect in December 1996.
The new bill was voted on, and at first it seemed as if the new sentencing guidelines were going to be a success, because it was taking some of the worst career criminals and locking them away for a very long time. As the 1990s went along, all seemed to be going as planned, because the new sentencing structure was in fact doing what it was originally designed to do: locking the dredges of society away and, as a result, making the communities and streets of North Carolina much safer.
The First Signs of a Growing Problem
Fast-forward to the early part of the new millennium, and the prison system began to experience the first signs of the drawbacks of the new sentencing structure. The ones who had been sentenced under the Fair Sentencing Act were for the most part being released back into society (minus the ones who had been sentenced to either life or the death penalty).
However, as time continued on, something else began to happen. The new sentencing structure the prison system had been so proud of saw the beginnings of what would become a much bigger problem—housing. For a while, the State of North Carolina seemed to have things under control, and bed availability was still present. But that all began to change in the 2020s as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The warehousing of inmates allowed the virus to bring in a brand new set of problems.
The Pandemic Exposes the Prison System
The State of North Carolina was running out of bed space, which caused the virus to run rampant throughout the entire prison system. The virus began to decrease the population. It was especially vicious on the immune-compromised and the elderly. For a while, it appeared as if the State would come through this with only minimal damage. But because of the way the virus had exposed the vulnerable side of the State’s prison system, another problem began to take shape: the narcotics problem increased, and staff began to leave the system because they no longer felt safe as a result of what they had witnessed the virus doing.
Over the next few years, staff shortages began to grow much worse. Not only that, but the State was eliminating all educational and vocational programs for the inmate population. Little by little, the inmate population saw drastic changes.
Lockdowns, Overcrowding, and Violence
Over time, as the population rapidly increased and staff shortages grew worse, the prison system did the one thing that it could do: it began to lock all of the prisons down. What most people don’t realize is that whenever an incarcerated individual is promoted from one custody level to another, they’re given some of their privileges back.
However, the State saw during the coronavirus pandemic that it could keep the inmate population locked down and control movement. Even more dangerous than that, it began to lock closed-custody inmates in with medium-custody inmates in the same dormitories, which created a whole new set of problems: the violence within the prison system took off. Now, in 2026, the prison system is making things even worse, placing bunk beds in facilities that aren’t designed for them.
The opportunity for inmates to take classes and even go outside has all but been done away with. It’s now not uncommon for many facilities to keep the inmate population locked down every day, many times behind doors for days or weeks at a time. As time goes by, the situation only worsens. As staff shortages grow even greater, the inmate population will only continue to deteriorate.
The Threat of Prison System Collapse
Something has to happen before the environment within the prison system becomes one of survival. They talk about rehabilitating inmates and creating a safer prison environment; however, with the way the system is heading, the outlook isn’t a positive one. The prison system as a whole is on the verge of collapsing in on itself, with many inmates set to become just another statistic.
Something needs to be done before it’s too late for the inmates who are truly trying to rehabilitate and return to society. Their voices are crying out. The question is: Who’s willing to listen?
Solutions That Could Prevent Prison System Collapse
I feel as if the best solution to these pressing issues, though they may not be simple, are as follows:
Pass legislation that would reconstruct the sentencing structure, possibly even reverting back to the Fair Sentencing Act, or at least provide some relief to those inmates who have made serious strides in rehabilitation and have shown improvements in their conduct
Hire more correctional staff, increase their pay, and provide them with complete health care coverage
Most importantly, make facilities available for different custody levels so that both medium- and minimum-custody levels are treated like the custody levels they are
Bring back educational and vocational programs so that inmates will be able to work on their education, and make programs available for inmates who are approaching release
The prison system doesn’t have to be an end-all for the individuals who are trying to return to society and the ones who they care about and love.
