Help for Prisoners
Gary Bornman’s desperate plea for help before he is released from Lompoc prison (Voices, Feb. 13) is echoed by thousands of inmates across the country who are not prepared to integrate into society when they are released. As a television writer/producer, I have interviewed many prisoners who have no idea how differently a free society operates from the isolated one behind bars.
Life in prison has its own rules and codes of behavior. A simple gesture, such as an innocent glance, in the outside world could be a threatening challenge in prison. No man or woman released from prison wants to return to jail. It is up to prison officials to prepare incarcerated men and women for life outside the harsh world of the penitentiary. It would benefit the inmates as well as the rest of us.
RICHARD A. STEEL
Los Angeles
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