A growing crisis is unfolding in our nation’s prisons, with potentially deadly consequences that extend far beyond prison walls.
In recent weeks, three staff members at Thomson Federal Prison in western Illinois were rushed to the hospital after accidentally being exposed to dangerous drugs smuggled into the facility. These incidents are part of a larger trend: So far in 2024, seven staff members have been hospitalized due to drug exposure at Thomson alone, and the prison is averaging one inmate overdose per week.
The primary source of these dangerous substances is mail laced with drugs. This puts prison staff and inmates at risk and poses a significant threat to postal workers and potentially the broader community.
Across the Federal Bureau of Prisons, staff face daily exposure to illicit drugs like fentanyl, carfentanil, K2, Suboxone, ecstasy and synthetic cocaine smuggled into facilities through the mail. This has led to a surge in accidental exposures with tragic consequences. On Aug. 9, a line-of-duty death occurred at U.S. Penitentiary Atwater in California, underscoring the urgent need for action.
To address this crisis, bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the form of H.R. 5266, the Interdiction of Fentanyl in Postal Mail at Federal Prisons Act. This bill mandates drug scanning of all mail, including legal mail, before it enters prisons. Intercepting dangerous substances before they enter facilities saves lives and prevents mass introduction of illicit drugs.
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Such programs cannot continue or expand without immediate support due to funding shortfalls. We cannot afford to wait until another officer is killed in the line of duty.
While we work to address this issue at the policy level, the American Federation of Government Employees Local 4070 and prison management are taking steps to mitigate the risk.
Narcan, a medication that can reverse opioid overdoses, is being made more widely available, and an emergency shipment is on the way to ensure all staff can carry it at all times. Thomson is currently locked down to enhance safety.
However, these measures are only temporary solutions to a problem that requires a comprehensive, long-term fix. That’s why the swift passage of H.R. 5266 is so critical. By mandating the scanning of all mail for drugs, we can prevent dangerous substances from entering prisons in the first place, protecting staff, inmates, postal workers and the broader community.
Jon Zumkehr, President, AFGE Local 4070
City should buy Greyhound station
Once again, the city of Chicago is poised to make a long-term transit error. Greyhound and other bus operators are expected to be evicted soon from the West Loop terminal.
Greyhound has been losing its stations one by one since an equity group owned by Alden Global Capital bought 33 of them in 2022.
Chicago is next. The city is slated to be the largest in the Northern Hemisphere without an intercity bus terminal. There is still no plan for pick-ups and drop-offs. Amtrak is unable to accommodate the additional 500,000 bus passengers at Union Station.
The city shouldn’t forego intercity buses. Stopping coverage would essentially say to travelers, “Don’t come to Chicago unless you can afford a plane ticket or happen to be near a train station.” Individuals, particularly low-income residents, rely on bus services such as Greyhound.
The city should buy the terminal. Ten of the 14 top metro cities have publicly owned bus terminals. While there’s an operating cost associated with management, the city could fund the terminal with advertisements, restaurant leases and fees paid by bus operators — similar to the Chicago airports, which are profitable assets and economic drivers.
The city says it doesn’t have the necessary $40 million. Yet Mayor Brandon Johnson, who’s been wildly uninterested in the critical state of the CTA and our city’s ongoing transportation woes, committed an additional $80 million in pandemic relief toward his social initiatives and passion projects — including a guaranteed income program for just 5,000 Chicagoans. He also unilaterally shifted $95 million in pandemic relief toward the migrant crisis, which has cost $430 million since 2022.
Johnson should’ve tried using federal COVID funds, under the infrastructure guidelines, to buy the terminal and make a large investment in the city and its low-income communities. They will bear the brunt of this closure.
Johnson pumps our tax dollars into passion projects and social programs with no long-term funding plans. It’ll be Chicago taxpayers who will be forced to either pick up the never-ending tab or let these programs’ funds dry up.
Johnson’s inability to distinguish what is in the public’s best interests will push more Chicagoans to buy one-way tickets out of town.
Micky Horstman, Lake View
Who cares about missing jerseys?
So the Sun-Times decided to run a Page 2 article on Friday about some missing jerseys that belonged to someone few have ever heard of (“Have you seen these jerseys? Food Network star offers reward for missing Chicago sandwich shop memorabilia”).
At first, I thought it was a joke, like a silly Neil Steinberg piece. Yet, to my utter amazement, it was not. In a city with so many unsolved homicides and missing children, the Sun-Times all of a sudden wants to help solve this mystery? Shameful.
Michael Raucci, Hampshire