Steve Norris had never set foot inside a prison when became commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction. And he had only been on the job three months when he was suddenly thrust into one of the biggest crises in the state's history: an inmate uprising, including a "full on riot," across multiple prisons. Five correction officers were taken hostage. Inmates were allowed to give a live press conference. "I thought about turning it down,'' Steve says, " but ultimately concluded that it was in everybody's interest that the media be allowed in and everybody could see what we were dealing with."

Looking back at those 36 hours in the summer of 1985, Steve says it was a turning point. And around the same time, an upstart company called Corrections Corporation of American — now known as CoreCivic — was just beginning. Today, it operates several Tennessee prisons, including the troubled Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility. Steve says he has no special knowledge of what's going on there, but he does have some ideas about how to turn the situation around.

Guest: Steve Norris, former commissioner, Tennessee Department of Correction

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices