Published: November 08, 2009 06:07 pm      

Why do they deserve more leniency than anyone else?

Why do they deserve more leniency than anyone else?

To the Editor:

I just read the article you wrote about the prison guards being put in jail for assault and I would like to express my reaction to it. (“Local incarceration for guards,” Oct. 31 Times-News, Page 1A)

Obviously, I do not have any facts beyond what I have read on the Internet. That being said, let’s say that these guards did commit this crime.

Why do they think they should have any leniency at all? Because they have young children or need to get a job? So do a lot people that go to prison.

Am I supposed to feel bad for these men? Maybe we should feel bad for first time wife beaters too. These men are getting off far easier than any of the innocent men and women that are in our prisons. Or that are incarcerated for a far less offensive crime.

These men held positions of power and should have been trained on how to properly control their anger and to contain a disturbance without use of force. They brutally attacked people that are already being punished. Does being a prisoner mean that we can demean and dehumanize them?

It seems that people have become desensitized to brutality. We see it on our TV screens, on our children’s games and possibly in our homes or neighborhoods.

I understand these men not wanting to go to jail, but I’m sure all criminals feel the same way.

If these men attacked prisoners when another form of control could have been used then I believe that these men got off with a slap on the wrist. And that is not justice.

Shirine Hossaini

Alexandria, Va.