Prison overpopulation

Dear Editor:A federal judge's mandate to reduce California's prison population by 40,000 inmates is very wrong. So is lowering standards, mild but immediate punishment, threats to reward gangs with job offers, spending more money per prisoner and coddling inmates contrary to what decent California residents desire. Rather than releasing them to prey on innocent people again, I'd suggest putting them out in the desert in a tent housing, farming it to be self-sustaining and environmentally making it bloom, like Israel did to become a power nation. Send Death Row inmates first and work them hard until they die, as it appears the state will never execute them. Other inmates can learn work ethics and a trade by building new prisons to replace tents there. A second solution would be to sue the federal government to order federal stimulus money to build more prisons. Another is to sue or request the federal government to pay for past, present and future costs of housing criminal illegal aliens to pay for their three hot meals and a cot. Another solution would be to send inmates to Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio to house, feed and work them into becoming better people. It's the cheapest method that helps prevent the revolving door return of inmates. Thirty-five cents a day for food will cure obesity, criminal intent, recidivism and possibly rehabilitate them. Pink shorts and T-shirts produce amazing changes of mindset in inmates. - Joe Cvetko, Bellflower

********** Published: January 29, 2010 - Volume 8 - Issue 41