Pandemic makes prison even worse
Social distancing is just about impossible inside this rundown jail, and yet it does protect society somewhat. Double bunking started on June 2.
The walls are strong, the razor wire sharp, but the system within is weak. Prison does not solve or fix mental health or addiction issues. Incarceration is a form of punishment for a wrong committed in society — bottom line.
Be that as it may, I am fortunate enough to have a priest as a friend on the outside. He arranged for me to see an addictions counsellor at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary while I was there. The counsellor had all the compassion, yet with all those at HMP in need, her job is like trying to empty a bathtub with a thimble.
In response to an article in The Telegram in mid-april about court-ordered alcohol bans for offenders, Rose Ricciardelli, a professor at Memorial University specializing in corrections, told The Telegram in May that there’s no reason to have a justice system that includes so many charges of breaches. And there should be more individualized approaches.
Hallelujah. It’s time that someone gets it.
Now, if only the robes and Crown attorneys could lose the tunnel vision of incarceration, possibly they could grasp the now and not just yesteryear.
Social distancing is just about impossible inside this rundown jail, and yet it does protect society somewhat. Double bunking started on June 2.
I believe more could be done at HMP to help an inmate better adapt and reintegrate into society. I was taught nothing while I was at HMP and I’ve never learned anything at HMP. Will someone stop the revolving door over there?
The lockup beneath Supreme Court downtown isn’t fit for human detention, and by the time the food arrives there from HMP, it’s disgusting.
I’ve seen documentaries on Guantanamo Bay where terrorists are fed and treated better. The downtown lockup’s routine is no books, no TV, no sunlight. No fresh air. Locked in a cage, 24⁄7 for two weeks straight. A shower every two days. Not fit.
I am an alcoholic. It’s a disease, not a crime.
Mike Ince St. John’s