Fairness Behind Bars

Re “Rethinking Treatment of Female Prisoners,” June 19: A woman’s hands shackled as she gives birth? If this is accepted by our society, then no wonder places like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo exist, that we go to war on lies, that we execute mentally retarded teenagers and that we support through inaction the rape of our environment, Constitution and economy.

We are truly a nation of people without a clue about human rights, justice, compassion and mercy.

When I read of these outrages against my America, I want to weep. I thank The Times for having the courage to write this and other stories that fly in the face of power, the stories that need to be told.

Ed Coonce

Encinitas

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I applaud the article about the efforts of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators to enact changes to California prison policies that recognize the gender differences.

Although the majority of female inmates don’t commit violent crimes, most arrive in prison on a path of violence via child abuse, rape and/or physical assaults.

Adult legal status, age 18, doesn’t magically give someone the tools necessary to deal with past psychological traumas. It would benefit society to create prison programs that do.

The largest benefit would be in reducing prison costs by lowering recidivism rates and the higher medical costs women naturally incur. It’s been proved that children of incarcerated parents have a much higher likelihood of future incarceration.

Women afforded the tools and opportunity to change their learned behaviors almost always choose a path beneficial to their children, so it also lowers the risk to their children.

The rest of the nation used to look to California as a model of progressive solutions that benefit society, but criminalizing social problems has made the California prison system the third-largest in the world, with one of the highest recidivism rates. It’s time for proactive changes.

Karla Bean

Richmond, Calif.

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This is another biased article that only shows compassion toward female prisoners. There may be male guards in female prisons, but there are also female guards in male prisons. Female guards can also observe male prisoners taking showers and other situations of male privacy. So what about male dignity?

If prisons are designed for violent men and therefore aren’t suitable for many female prisoners, what about the male prisoners who aren’t violent?

If there is tremendous concern for imprisoned mothers, whose idea is it that the imprisoned fathers aren’t worried about their families? Female prisoners tend to be victims of past abuses. What about male prisoners? Let’s look at male prisoners with the same compassion as female prisoners so that the males can also have a chance to regain their dignity.

Joseph Delvaux

Covina

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Who cares that female inmates need more mental and medical treatment? If it’s available to females it must also be made available to males. As far as I’m concerned, all inmates get too much of everything anyway, as many of these people abuse their bodies by using drugs and alcohol and living a high-risk lifestyle. The real issue is that the discrimination laws say people in these circumstances cannot be treated differently because of their gender.

The Times reporter’s insinuation that most female inmates have only committed crimes that harmed themselves, like drug use and prostitution, is misleading. Many of these females have a long criminal history, and a court has decided that they deserve to be in prison. The writer also painted a picture of women who cared more about family, which is odd because someone who actually cared about her family and children would never commit crimes that would ultimately take them away from their families. Many of these women neglected their children to the point where the county had to place them in foster care for their own protection. These women are in prison because of their criminal behavior and do not deserve any special treatment.

Mark Muckenthaler

Norco

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It is outright hypocrisy for feminists to claim that, because female prisoners are more likely than male prisoners to be nonviolent offenders, domestic violence victims or parents, we should give all female prisoners special visitation rights and counseling. More than half of male prisoners are nonviolent offenders, and many are fathers, domestic violence victims and mentally disabled.

Recent reports found that 13% of male prisoners report having been physically or sexually abused and 80% of urban male prisoners have two or three lifetime co-mental disorders; among prisoners with mental illnesses, males are 18% less likely than females to receive treatment. There is no excuse for sex discrimination against male prisoners. It is unconstitutional, bad public policy, and just plain wrong.

Marc E. Angelucci

President, National

Coalition of Free Men

Los Angeles Chapter