Another View July 9, 2008
Posted by admin in : Effects of Measure 11 , trackbackHere’s a letter to the editor of The Daily Astorian dated June 12:
It’s so difficult to convey to people what prison is like, and how it affects families ("Debunking myths about Oregon’s Measure 11," The Daily Astorian, June 12).
Until you live through it, the misconceptions abound - everything from the inmates just sitting around watching TV and being fed three good meals a day, with all their health care needs being met, etc., to the idea that prison is a violent, dangerous environment with rapes and gang wars going on.
No, inmates do not sit around watching TV all day, most of us would not eat the food they are served and medical care is minimal at best, but mostly nonexistent. Yes, it can be dangerous, but so is living in the outside world.
Measure 11 takes punishment to a level way beyond any constructive benefit to the inmate or society. Prison is about loss of freedom for an adequate amount of time. To add on a punitive phase, and keep a person behind bars for an extended period of time as Measure 11 allows, serves no constructive purpose whatsoever.
I would say you would be hard pressed to find an ex-felon who could honestly say that their life got back on track because of their extended incarceration under Measure 11.
Debbi Lester
Vancouver, Wash.
Comments»
Debbi, Thank you for your efforts to educate the public of the harsh realities of measure 11 and the prison conditions. I would really like to use your piece in a book I am about to publish. If you would be so inclined, please reply and get in contact via my email address. My publisher can send you forms and a query letter and info about the book. Look forward to hearing from you.
Just another point I would like to add. If measure 61 passes, that money that goes to school will be taken for the public saftey and prisond instead. This will leave the most needy students with out haveing their needs met even worse than it already is. Then these kids who dont get their educational needs met, ( the learning diabled, emotionaly disabled, and the physically disabled), will grow up with out , ( and the No child left behind law) not being met either. These same kids make up a huge maojority of the jail and prison population when they are adults. They have fallen through the cracks. So, measure 11 and the new measures if passed dont only hurt the children in our schools now , but it hurts their future and the tax payers future as well. I would hate to think that this is planned out by our government. But it is something I dont see printed or spoke about . Cant we all see the picture as a whole? Why is it so crystal clear to me? This is child abuse that follows the childs his / her whole life though. And to top it off it is abuse by our own system that should protect them.