The recent Abu-Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq and the devastating prison fire that claimed hundreds of lives in the Dominican Republic have many Americans turning their eyes towards our nation’s prisons and jails. 

Many wonder, "How safe are our prisons?  Are there any cases of abuse like those we’ve seen and heard about elsewhere?"

The Commission on Safety and Abuse in America held a 2-day public forum here in Tampa on Tuesday, April 19th & Wednesday, April 20th, to hear testimony about conditions inside Florida’s prisons and jails. 

"The Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's prisons is a national effort to clarify the nature and extent of violence, sexual abuse, degradation, and other serious safety failures and abuses in prisons and jails throughout the United States, as well as the consequences for prisoners, corrections officers, and the public at large." Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons Website.

WUSF 89.7 News provided comprehensive coverage of the hearings during Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Read and hear Steve Newborn's article on the Commission's forum.

If you missed the WUSF broadcast of a special roundtable discussion entitled, “Behind Bars: Conditions inside Florida’s Prisons and Jails” with Veteran journalist David Molpus as moderator, Listen Now.

Guests included: Judge John J. Gibbons (former Chief Judge of U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit);Gary D. Maynard (President-Elect of the American Correctional Association);  Pat Nolan (President of Prison Fellowship's Justice Fellowship) and Colonel David Parrish (Director of Prisons Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department). 

For more information on the hearings, vist the Commission's Website.

Specific agenda information available at: www.prisoncommission.org/public_hearing_1.asp