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Well Mr. Joe Ray, your addiction must be ignorance, self importance and degrading the human spirit. Your entire attitude makes me physically ill. You don't have a clue as to what you are talking about, so I think you need clean off your own doorstep and realize that everyone has a road to walk and yours is getting thinner by the moment. In this universe of justice; the eyes of truth are always watching you.

Now on with reply to the question. I do not understand the attitude of people thinking that those who are in prison should be treated like the scum of the earth. Nine times out of ten they are put there by abusive backgrounds and desperation is what leads to their life of crime that puts them behind bars. They are still a part of the human race.

*The United States is the only country that builds prisons based on third grade reading scores and the number of children in child protective services. Ninety percent of those children who are taken into custody of child protection services or child welfare become inmates at juvenile halls and detention centers. Ninety percent of those juveniles are the adults that populate our prisons. Prison is a very profitable business.

These people, men or women deserve to be treated like a human being. If the crime is not heinous and an affront to the human race, which I believe those criminals to be the smallest percentages of around 7-10%, then the other 90% are there for drugs, alcohol or money. A person receives a longer sentence for a simple marijuana joint than a rapist or child molester does. No one looks to rehabilitate, just punish.

To continue to abuse these people because we think we are better than they are, is just plain inhumane and cruel. Most the criminals I know of that belong in jail are the ones who run them and make the laws. When will we as the human race learn that we cannot and should not try to legislate morality or make personal choice against the law? The attitude I see in today's society; It's okay to drop a bomb on a defenseless village of 525,000 people, killing most of them, but it's not okay to have sex out of wedlock? Since when did we decide the pleasure of the spirit through the body and a natural act of humanity became taboo, but mass murder was okay and justified for oil and money?

In conclusion, I have dealt with a lot of addicts, no matter their addiction; and I happen to know they need counseling more than those who receive benefits to pay for them. I admire your courage, nobility and honor for wanting to give these people a little peace of mind and a soothing of the spirit to be able to at least speak with a compassionate soul. The human condition really is a product of the society we live in and may you heal many hearts and reunite many families that are devastated by poverty, abuse and the escape they seek to stop the pain; Therefore landing them in prison from a desperate act of trying to get ahead on the wrong side of the law.

*Sources: Minnesota's Chief Justice, Kathleen Blatz and others.

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