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Everyone knows that prison is a tough place to be – both for the incarcerated people who are there serving time and the professionals that our government employs to oversee them.

And, of course, on one level – especially for those who are imprisoned — that’s as it should be. A prison sentence is not a vacation, but punishment that’s reserved for people who commit serious violations of societal rules.

That said, it’s also true that almost all people who enter prison will someday reenter society and, we hope, lead productive lives.

And given this simple reality, it’s hard to overstate just how shortsighted and destructive our state’s current prison situation – in which thousands of prisoners and security personnel must coexist and function in dreadfully underfunded, understaffed, overcrowded, and dangerous conditions – has become.

The bottom line: The main solution to the crisis in our prisons – allotting better funding to hire more staff at decent salaries and improve facilities — is obvious and state lawmakers have all the money they need to pursue it. Now, not later, is the time to act.

For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield