Opinion: When being tough on crime prevents a toddler from getting a kidney

To the editor: As Glenn E. Martin and Joshua Morrison note, 2-year-old A.J. Burgess was born without kidneys. He receives dialysis every day. (“He violated his probation. Now he can’t give his child a kidney,” Opinion, Oct. 27)

His father wants to donate a kidney, but he can’t. His father violated a condition of his parole, and the transplant guardians refuse to allow this life-saving surgery because the penal system wants to punish the dad.

Does the penal system know this boy can die tomorrow? Does it know that the longer the boy must use dialysis, the more taxpayers must spend? Apparently it knows, but no one is willing to put the child’s needs first. Dad must be punished. They want this child to wait longer, knowing the boy’s fragile condition could end his life any day, just so they can be tough on crime.

Could it be because father and son are black? The son has no criminal record. Why should he suffer for his father’s poor judgment?

Shouldn’t we be better than this?

Barbara Snowberger, Los Angeles

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