| This letter by Shirley just says it all. The Bee doesn't print letters
that exceed 150 words (nor do most newspapers) so it is better to break
the points down into several smaller letters. Some smaller newspapers
do print longer letters to the editors but the larger ones almost never
do unless you are a professional writer. This is the way it works,
but it is the NUMBER of letters they receive that makes a difference.
When you write to one reporter, make certain always to copy the main
email address too [email protected]
so at least one other person sees it and it doesn't just get deleted.
[email protected]
"..the Department of Corrections has "been underfunded for a long
time."
This is putting it mildly! Please help come to our rescue.
Society needs to know how their tax dollars are being spent and housing
mentally ill and non violent prisoners is not the way I want my tax dollars
spent. Shorten prison terms and get these people rehabilitated and
back to society to support themselves. Sitting twiddling their thumbs
while guards sit in towers and behind locked doors earning high pay plus
overtime is not helping our societal issues of crime and criminals in the
least. The keyword is rehabilitated.
We need help to get these human beings education, medical treatment
and total
assistance for the mentally ill who were thrown to the winds when released
from mental hospitals and now live in the streets committing crimes just
to be able to eat. Our prisons are not meant to house the mentally
ill. Human beings die frequently due to lack of medical treatment
in a timely manner. How are people with no teeth going to become
employed when they leave prison.
What type of business would give a toothless applicant a chance at a
job. Yet
dental work is almost non existent in our prisons where young people
are sitting out their sentences. Too bad you say, yet that is inhumane
to say the least and ..... Do we want to support them forever?
Our system is set up to do just that. How can we expect the drug
addicts to get drug free and return to society clean when drugs are supplied
to them while incarcerated by the prison guards themselves? I call
that job security! The revolving door assures some jobs without worry.
Our system needs revamping. We need a completely different philosophy
on dealing with people sent to prison by the courts. What is truly
best for society? Certainly not spending our tax dollars on punishment
for twenty, forty or one hundred years! The punishment time should
be short and the rehabilitation time longer. Help to change thinking,
ability to think and education are the answers. Housing of the mentally
ill is not a prison function, yet a large number of them are being housed
there because the court system nor the prison system seem to know what
to do with them.
Our society needs educating and help to understand how our money is
actually
being spent. I am betting there would be a lot of sleepless nights
if the Christians in our society knew what they were supporting.
I know you are not allowed inside the prison to actually talk freely with
prisoners even if they are willing to talk. What about our freedom
of press to print the truth, the whole truth? That does not count
with prisoners. The truth might get out. We must depend on
you to dig for the information in bits and pieces to present the rest of
the story.
But now we talk instead of budget cuts and prisons again are targeted.
We cannot properly feed the human beings in prisons now, and to cut budgets
would be even more inhumane. Certainly they will NOT cut guards pay
checks, or numbers of guards, or overtime without further cuts on the prisoners
themselves.
Thank you again for the message that you have gotten out to the public.
Hopefully you will hear from more of us on the subject.
Shirley
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