Inmate: Show a little compassion

To the editor:

I know I probably have no right to say anything, but I just want to express my feelings on the treatment given to inmates at the Jay County Jail.

Now don't get me wrong. I know that people don't come to jail because we are law-abiding citizens.

We have broken the law in one way or another, but aren't we still human beings?

Just because we are in jail doesn't mean we should be treated as if we have no feelings or needs.

It seems to me that the same people that were our friends when we were out of jail have now turned their backs and now only see us as criminals. The human compassion is now all but gone.

Sure we have done wrong and deserve to be punished for breaking the law.

But none of us deserve to be totally isolated from everything. The correction officers act like it is such a big deal to let us know about anything such as if our court date has been continued.

Instead, they don't come back and tell us anything and here we sit, wondering why we haven't been taken to court.

What would it hurt to come back and just tell us instead of making us wonder for hours until we hear from our attorney or we happen to get through on the phone to them?

Where is the basic human compassion anymore?

I know they have a really hard job dealing with all the different people they encounter day after day.

But didn't God encounter the same kind of people? He didn't treat any of those people like they were not worthy of love and compassion.

I just don't understand why we have to be treated so poorly just because we are in jail.

When I get out of here I plan on trying to do whatever I can to be sure all inmates are treated as people and not just someone who has broken the law and thrown in jail to be ridiculed and treated as if they have no feelings and is not deserving of love, forgiveness and basic human compassion.

Thank you for reading this.

May God bless you all.

Merri Walker, inmate,

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