...CONSIDER, CRIMINALS

Regarding the Nov. 26 People's Forum letter "Prison system cruelty" [which
commented on Ruth Sheehan's Nov. 22 column "Rules unfair for ill prisoner"]:

Here is yet another bleeding heart who espouses the cause of "prisoner's
rights." The writer speaks of "dehumanizing conditions" and the
"deprivation of human touch," in addition to the "deep wounds inflicted on
society" and the "impact to innocent relatives" brought about by the
get-tough-on-crime mentality of our prison system. It was enough to make
any law-abiding citizen's stomach turn!

When an individual is convicted of a crime, he or she ceases to be a viable
member of society, and therefore any and all "rights" afforded that
individual cease until such time as any sentence is satisfied. Prison is
not a halfway house or a day care center for misfits -- it's a place for
criminals, healthy or otherwise, who have committed crimes against society.

Perhaps the criminal element should consider the impact and the
repercussions on their own families should they be convicted of a crime,
and the loss and separation that ensues. And if that realization prevents
the commission of a crime, we won't need to worry about the forgotten
law-abiding citizens who play such a trivial role in these matters -- the
"victims!"

Jack Johnston

Holly Springs