Cool air behind bars

Regarding “Prison ovens” (Page A18, July 27), it is a fact that extreme heat for inmates is dangerous. While I was in elementary school around 1945 there was a popular boy in our class. While working on our 50th high school reunion, we learned he was incarcerated and was placed in the Daniel Unit in Snyder. We began writing. He said he had a cell with a high window and that it was unbearably hot, sometimes as hot as 104 degrees. He had suffered a stroke and was recovering. I had much sympathy for him. A few years later he was released and returned to his house in Texas. He sent us a photo of himself happily sitting in a recliner chair.

Prisoners, despite past criminal acts, should be treated humanely. The prison system may be unintentionally killing our friends and relatives.

Marjorie McConnico, Seabrook