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Jacket Shared by 20 Prisoners in Ontario Jail
Nov. 7, 2006
Letter To The Editor, Toronto Star
Is it right that 20 inmates must share a single jacket each day during their individually allotted time for "yard exercise-fresh air," especially while keeping in mind the fact that Ontario jails are breeding grounds for such diseases and infections as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, hepatitis A, herpes, tuberculosis, influenza, lice, colds and scabies?
When you go outside for a 20-minute break from work or school, would you share a single jacket that had just been worn by 19 other persons that very day, just before you put it on? We all know the logical, dignified and humane answer is a resounding, "no way."
So then, why must Ontario's inmates, the majority of whom are still before the courts and are "presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law" as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees to every person? Why must these human beings be forced to live in such squalid, horrid and unhealthy conditions?Sadly, this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg in the treatment and conditions in our Ontario jails.
Richard Wills, inmate,Central East Correctional Centre,
Lindsay, Ont.
Source:
www.thestar.com
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