So, I blogged about the incarcerated men in the USofA on June 25. Big time! I thought of not writing another one on the topic, but I am appalled with the news (Pasadena Star News, Aug. 14) that Clark Kelso, the Federal Court Overseer, asked a judge to seize $8 billion from California treasury to improve the medical care at state's prisons. To make it more shocking, Mr. Kelso also asked the court to hold Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state comptroller in contempt of court if they don't allocate the money soon.
California is cash-strapped. In fact, couple of weeks ago, hundreds of state employees were in Sacramento, the state capital, to protest against the plan of the governor to lower their salaries to minimum wage rate, because there's very little money to disburse.
What is Mr. Kelso thinking? While the law-abiding constituents are having problem getting medical emergency care (with closures of many E.Rs, most have to travel many miles and wait for at least 4 hours, before they could be seen by E.R. doctors), having problem refilling their prescribed medication (many have to even cross the border to get cheaper refills), having problem convincing the state not to cut more on the educational budget and not to lower their salaries to minimum wage, he has the nerve to ask a judge for such drastic and preposterous action.
Certainly, those people at the pen needs medical care, but they should not be treated special. They are at the pen to be punished. They are there to be deterred from committing more crimes. They are there to be incapacitated. They are there to be rehabilitated. To give them best services is incongruous to these four objectives of the criminal justice system. Why not just provide them their basic needs and use that $8 billion to Californians, who are outside the pen? Thousands of law-abiding citizens can barely make both ends meet. Consequently, more and more of those outside the pen are now resorting to OTC (over-the-counter) medication, just taking analgesics for undiagnosed pain, because they are uninsured and cannot stand the travel to and long wait in emergency rooms.
Mr. Kelso should have asked the court to seize that money for the sake of Californians, who are outside the state prison. They are the ones who really need help so that they can continue paying taxes to keep felons off the street. Yes, felons in these 33 state prisons have constitutional rights for better medical services; however, the law-abiding citizens have more rights to be served better.
Tags: California Prisoner Felon Kelso Edmund Melig Industan
