NO GUILT DETERMINED, YET

Marc Gray's April 5 Viewpoints response ("Jail is not for comfort") to H.
Conrad Tips' April 3 letter ( "Jail not a merciful place") shows that he
should learn the difference between a prison and a jail. Prisons are where
convicted criminals are sent to serve their sentences. While jails sometimes
serve some of this function, most of the people in jail are in pretrial
detention. Tips' wife is waiting for the law to determine whether she is
guilty or innocent. Until that decision is made, she is to be presumed
innocent. As a citizen awaiting trial, she should not be subject to
punishment. The punishment phase only begins after determining guilt or
innocence. The idea or attitude that people deserve punishment from the
moment the police suspect them can get people shot.

Bruce Ellis, Houston