Prison System

One minor cheer for your July 7 editorial, “Prisons Are Not Enough.” It is 20 years overdue, without any history of why California imprisons 160,000 at an enormous cost and without any real hope of reducing the crime rate.

It was about 20 years ago that Democratic legislators, hoping to counter the Republican claim that Democrats were “soft on crime,” climbed aboard the “tough on crime” bandwagon. There has been no debate--only which party projects an image of being tougher on crime, regardless of the consequences. So we have a prison system which fails to: treat drug addicts; educate; provide conjugal visitation, reducing rape of other inmates; and provide released prisoners the skills they need to compete in the job market. This is a system which assures recidivism.

I hope that this editorial will be a first step in the much-needed debate on how to reform the prison system in California.

IRVING WILLNER

Monterey Park