Locked in the System

I was gratified to read that L.A. County is having to pay reparations to jail inmates (“Trapped in a Nightmare That Seemed Endless,” Aug. 17). Having spent some time there, I observed firsthand the callous and cruel treatment that prisoners receive, mostly at the hands of other prisoners, but with the guards being indifferent to the suffering. I don’t think the public realizes that some of these prisoners are there awaiting trials or other legal hearings for charges of which they are innocent. (I wasn’t one of those, however.)

At L.A. County Jail you are considered a hardened criminal whether or not you’ve been convicted. It is about time someone has to pay for the crime our system perpetrates upon its victims.

Jim Pappas

Torrance