There's a lesson here somewhere...

...give me some time and I'll figure out what it might be...

AUSTIN — Knives and drugs, cell phones and smokeless tobacco. Even McDonald’s hamburgers.
Texas prisons were a virtual bazaar of prohibited and illicit goods smuggled in by guards and correctional employees who rarely faced harsh punishment when caught, according to a Houston Chronicle review.

But remember, friends and neighbors, bans on drugs and guns in our less-restrictive society will fix everything! Something here did catch my eye, though...

Top prison officials have called for zero tolerance in stamping out prison contraband, though it “doesn’t mean someone is terminated,” said the prison system’s spokeswoman, Michelle Lyons.
“It means it’s addressed and is dealt with accordingly. In some cases, depending on the contraband, the fitting punishment is probation or suspension,” she said. “In more serious cases, where the facts support that the person intended to introduce contraband to an offender, then it’s dealt with possibly by termination.”

Doesn't mean someone is terminated. Why in the hell not? I mean, it's one thing to walk through with a cell phone or an unopened can of chewing tobacco that's intended for your own use, but I don't understand why bringing prohibited items in for inmates should not be a firing offense. It'd be interesting to see how the flow of contraband into the prisons would be affected if they did crack down on it like that. I guess the prison system must be pretty hard-up for workers. Maybe paying them more and making the jobs more financially attractive wouldn't be such a bad idea, although I don't know how spending could be shifted any more than it is considering state agencies have to basically justify their existence and the money they spend as they come under review every so often by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission. At any rate, a pay raise for those in the prison system is probably something Texas legislators should seriously consider.