"Former Warden: Prison Lifers Enduring A Slow Death,"" is the title of an OpEd by William L. Tuthill in the Hartford Courant. Tuthill is a retired assistant deputy commissioner in the Connecticut Department of Correction.
I have a difficult time accepting the arguments of those who support capital punishment, who focus on the supposed country club conditions of life behind bars as part of their mistaken reasoning for not repealing the death penalty in Connecticut.
Unlike those whose experience with prisons might be occasional visits or no knowledge of life inside at all, I spent many years working in and running prisons, and I can tell you it is not the easy life described by some who imagine inmates doing cushy jobs, watching TV and playing their days away in pleasant recreation.
My career of more than 22 years working for the Connecticut Department of Correction, including a stint as warden of the New Haven and Bridgeport correctional centers, allows me to clarify and correct the record. Life in prison without the possibility of release — the most severe penalty if the death penalty is done away with — is a very tough existence.In my experience, those incarcerated for life are enduring a slow death.
And:
As a lifelong citizen of Connecticut, I am ashamed that we are still holding on to a broken system that does nothing to make us make us safer and puts innocent lives at risk of execution, not to mention the millions of dollars wasted each year on a death penalty we never use.
I am calling on Connecticut lawmakers to not allow the acts of a few depraved individuals to influence our public policy. And don't be fooled — life in prison without the possibility of release is plenty tough enough to punish even our most heinous criminals.
Tuthill joins a number of other former corrections officials who have spoken out against capital punishment; earlier coverage begins at the link.
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