An Inside Look at Prison Rape

The article on prison rape could not have been clearer (“Rape. How Funny Is It?� by Fred Dickey, Nov. 3). California prison guards do, in fact, use rape as a tool for obtaining confidential information from gang leaders and gang members about inmates involved in drug trafficking, stabbings and so on. Prison guards do not care about who rapes whom because they know that the public doesn’t care. I believe that California prison guards should be considered co-conspirators to these sexual crimes because they don’t do anything to stop them. As for the “Booty Bandit� who raped inmate Eddie Dillard, more than 1,000 of us inmates and more than 200 prison guards knew who the bandit was. What makes society believe that this could not have been prevented? Keep your focus on prison rape. Help stop it now!

Theodric Van Smith

Atascadero State Hospital

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The California Department of Corrections’ indifference to the spread of HIV among inmates can be summed up easily: Condoms are prohibited in the prisons. While the Los Angeles County and San Francisco jails make condoms available, the inmates in California prisons (many of whom return to society and join the dating pool) are denied basic protection. The AIDS epidemic cannot be fought with such a primitive policy. Denying condoms to inmates defies logic. California would rather spend millions of dollars on medical care for HIV/AIDS inmates than permit condoms in prisons.

Robert M. Rosenkrantz

San Luis Obispo