Bass Concert Hall
White-Collar Prisoners Suffer, Too
RECEIVED Fri., July 23, 2004
Dear Editor,
I was quite bothered by Lucius Lomax's egregious comment in his article on prison medical care ["The Least That Money Can Buy," News, July 16] that "these inmates are ... blue-collar criminals ... not the white-collar hustlers who rip off shareholders ... those people don't do hard time."
When those people are imprisoned – and they often aren't, as is also true of those who do "blue-collar" crimes – they too suffer and are not treated well. Has Lomax forgotten that Jim McDougal, Susan McDougal's husband, who provided Ken Starr with testimony against Clinton, died in solitary confinement of his heart problems without medical care in a Texas (federal) prison, despite his protests of illness and poor medical history? The elderly (white-collar) man was put in solitary for days after being unable to provide a urine specimen on demand.
Inhumane treatment is not justified for any prisoner, but is common. Lomax, and we, should be concerned to improve prison conditions for everyone and not perpetrate myths about luxurious prison conditions that simply do not exist for white-collar criminals or anyone else.
I was quite bothered by Lucius Lomax's egregious comment in his article on prison medical care ["The Least That Money Can Buy," News, July 16] that "these inmates are ... blue-collar criminals ... not the white-collar hustlers who rip off shareholders ... those people don't do hard time."
When those people are imprisoned – and they often aren't, as is also true of those who do "blue-collar" crimes – they too suffer and are not treated well. Has Lomax forgotten that Jim McDougal, Susan McDougal's husband, who provided Ken Starr with testimony against Clinton, died in solitary confinement of his heart problems without medical care in a Texas (federal) prison, despite his protests of illness and poor medical history? The elderly (white-collar) man was put in solitary for days after being unable to provide a urine specimen on demand.
Inhumane treatment is not justified for any prisoner, but is common. Lomax, and we, should be concerned to improve prison conditions for everyone and not perpetrate myths about luxurious prison conditions that simply do not exist for white-collar criminals or anyone else.
Anne Peticolas
