Federal prisons, overcrowded and increasingly unsafe, could become more so with budget cuts

Attorney General Eric Holder says the federal budget sequester and employee furloughs could worsen safety problems in federal prisons, most of which are in rural areas. Brian Mann of North Country Radio in Saranac Lake, N.Y., notes, "Two different congressional reports released in the last year found that inmate overcrowding at federal prisons . . . has already made it difficult for guards to maintain safety behind bars."

The Congressional Research Service said there has been a "historically unprecedented" increase in inmates, and the Government Accountability Office said the overcrowding has caused higher inmate-to-staff ratios, leading to more inmate behavior problems and threats to safety. It said some prisons are holding half again as many inmates as they are designed for, and a Bureau of prisons study  said it needs 3,200 more guards, Mann reports.