The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution protects people, including inmates, against cruel and unusual punishment. But so often I am seeing inmates who, because they are in jail or prison, act so entitled. Entitled to free medical care, free dental, they complain about not having computer access or they complain that they aren”t being “properly taken care of.”
They are given exams, treatment and medication at the expense of taxpayers. If prisoners “feel” they aren”t being “properly taken care of” they just send complaint after complaint to anybody they can. They send these into the NHS, Social Services, the court, really anybody they think will listen. They try to sue whomever they have come in contact with in their life because of this feeling of entitlement. But do they really have the right?
I don”t believe they should have no access to medical care at all, but let”s be reasonable here. Why are we giving the people who aren”t trying to be productive in our society all of this access to services that they have not worked for? Those of us out in the real world who are struggling to make ends meet are paying for this medical care, yet most of us don”t even have health care benefits of our own simply because we can”t afford it. The number of children without health insurance at any time during 2011 was 7 million. Does this seem right?
We should be focusing on preventative strategies more so than corrective. I believe in putting money into America”s youth. Giving grants to schools, giving aid to those who want to be better members of society and be productive. Why give extensive medical exams and care in prisons when most public schools can”t even afford to keep a nurse on staff? Some priorities just seem so completely mixed up.
The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world, at 754 per 100,000. Why are we spending so much money on the people who seem to have given up on trying and just expect and take instead of being productive and giving?
Nadia Tipton
Lakeport
