Letters to the Editor for Saturday, June 30, 2018

Run prisons like boot camp

Regarding the article, “Prison OT down 69% in last quarter:”

“A lot of staff were upset because they were counting on that overtime”

Well isn’t that just too bad. The rest of us working people never consider a steady stream of overtime a source of additional income to be counted on. According to the article, wardens make decisions on activities such as basketball and art classes based on the mood of the facility. Wardens imply that those programs are good for inmate activities. Translation, the inmates will not be unhappy and cause trouble. All this coddling of inmates and prison guard OT pay amounts to millions of wasted taxpayer dollars. If prisons were not run like Boy Scout camps but like “Cool Hand Luke” all this waste of taxpayer dollars could be avoided. Prison should be a place where an inmate NEVER wants to return. Prisons should be run like military boot camps during the draft era. I will never forget the first words of my drill sergeant “I am your mother, your father and God. If you have any questions ask me!” When you took the oath of enlistment your life as you knew it ceased to exist for the next four years. The only right you had was to follow orders, stay out of trouble and not be made an example of. There was never any concern for your happiness, rights or comforts. Only when prisons are run like that will control be restored, costs controlled and prison staffing greatly reduced, except for a lot of new dogs that don’t get OT!

Keith Young

Minden