Sir, – Ian O’Donnell is to be commended for advocating a more humane prison system (Opinion Analysis, June 29th). It is a scandal that prisoners are forced to “slop out”. This is not only a deep insult to the dignity of prisoners, it is an affront to us all.
While we know only too well that there are no votes in speaking up for prisoners, it is nonetheless reprehensible how they are treated with regard to over-crowding and sanitary conditions. The socio-economic background of the general prison population is equally worth noting: thus we continue to lock up, almost exclusively, those who are poor and who are marginalised from mainstream society. It is probably too much to hope that a discussion on the latter point could be respectfully had, given the class bias of the media. – Yours, etc,