George,

I wish the OWS people would also protest the brutal conditions within our penal system. Some are inclined to call prisons "reformatories"--I feel "deformitories" is far more accurate and appropriate. The mayhem and nightmarish horror among the overcrowded prisons in the United States is a genuine "crime against humanity"!

The racial disparity is, in itself, enough for any democratic civilization to feel shame and guilt. What allows a white man to be charged with a misdemeanor (possession of one ounce of cocaine), possession of crack cocaine with one sixth the amount of the drug is a MANDATORY ten year prison sentence ... guess who uses crack cocaine?

While the United States has slightly less than 5% of the world's population, we have the distinction of warehousing 25% of the world's prison population.....Prisons are now the replacements for long closed mental institutions and insanity among inmates is pandemic. Murder. maiming and a constant threat of violence turn many non-violent individuals into paranoid animals!

Add to this charm prisons run by private corporations often with judges and law enforcement individuals given "kickbacks" for supplying victims--many so poor, they have nothing resembling legal representation or anything close to a fair trial or a hint of justice!

The loonies of the right exploit the "law and order" mantra and couldn't care less about "the least of my brethren"*

Need an example? Senator Jim Webb, former Navy Secretary and Republican under Ronald Reagan, tried to introduce legislation to try to correct some of the horrors listed above. The right wing Republicans filibustered it to an early death.

A great man once noted that the gauge of any civilized society is how that society treats its offenders. We aren't measuring up so hot!

Harry Tenney (Electronic mail, December 1, 2011)