Rock Hill Herald Logo

Denying food is cruel | Rock Hill Herald

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
  • Customer Service
  • Mobile & Apps
  • Newsletters
  • Archives

    • All News
    • Local News
    • Local Traffic Cam
    • North Carolina
    • South Carolina
    • Business
    • Education
    • NIE
    • Crime
    • More News
    • Andrew Dys
    • Nation/World
    • Politics/Government
    • Weird News
    • Databases
    • Down Home Magazine
    • Physicians Directory
    • Fort Mill Times
    • Fort Mill Times Sports
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Submit a Letter to the Editor
    • All Sports
    • Panthers
    • College
    • Winthrop
    • High School
    • High School Football
    • Auto Racing
    • Politics
    • Elections
  • Obituaries
    • All Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Submit a Letter
    • To the Contrary
    • James Werrell
    • Palmetto Opinion
    • All Living
    • Community
    • Weddings
    • Engagements
    • Anniversaries
    • Births
    • Religion
    • Family
    • Home & Garden
    • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Books
    • Calendar
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Rewards
    • Horoscopes

  • Legals
  • Cars
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Virtual Career Fair
  • Homes
  • Classifieds

Opinion

Denying food is cruel

By Staff Reports

    ORDER REPRINT →

June 30, 2007 11:02 PM

The state Department of Corrections should immediately cease its practice of denying food to inmates who don't follow prison rules.

Civilized countries, especially those with constitutions specifically forbidding cruel and unusual punishments, can surely find better ways to punish inmates than denying the most basic of human needs.

Last week, The State newspaper reported that Corrections Department documents show some inmates who break the rules are being denied food, including some who violate rules on grooming.

The newspaper wrote about one inmate at the Tyger River Correctional Institution in Spartanburg who was denied food for five days after he refused to shave with a razor. The inmate later required medical treatment.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

Jon Ozmint, the Corrections Department's director, adamantly denies that prisons are withholding food. Rather, inmates are choosing to not eat by refusing to follow the rules.

That's tantamount to saying a jaywalker chose torture by refusing to cross at the light.

Some among us might withhold all sympathy for inmates. After all, they might say, the inmates chose to be in jail and chose to break the rules.

We're all for punishing those who break the laws. And we're for running disciplined prisons, where inmates face consequences for breaking the rules. But the way a country treats its most troubled citizens says volumes about its compassion and humanity.

Surely America and South Carolina can find more humane punishment than denying food to inmates.

"To me, that goes back to concentration camps," former state corrections director Bill Leeke told The State. "We're a civilized society."

Yes, we are. So let's stop this cruel punishment now.

IN SUMMARY

Withholding food from S.C. prisoners is a cruel and inhumane punishment that must stop.

What do you think about this editorial? Come to community.heraldonline.com and tell us.

YOUR VIEW

  Comments  

Videos

North Carolina coach Roy Williams following win over Florida State: ‘We had ten turnovers, I thought we had 103’

Mark Kingston on Noah Campbell’s walk-off homer, impact on Gamecocks’ morale

View More Video

Trending Stories

Rock Hill armed robber out of jail a month kidnapped man, stole money, police say

February 22, 2019 10:13 AM

Student in Rock Hill charged with bringing weapon to school, police say

February 22, 2019 12:44 PM

‘He helped shape Rock Hill’: Longtime city council member dies at 74

February 22, 2019 01:16 PM

‘Nearly impossible’ goal met. Why more York County animal shelter dogs, cats survive

February 22, 2019 01:47 PM

Play turns deadly when woman’s boxer-mix dogs attack her in family yard, SC cops say

February 22, 2019 02:33 PM

Read Next

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor

By Barbara Barkley

bbarkley@heraldonline.com

    ORDER REPRINT →

January 29, 2019 08:27 AM

Letters to the editor, Jan. 27, 2019

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE OPINION

Opinion

Letters to the editor

December 31, 2018 09:36 AM

Letters to the Editor

Letter to the editor

December 31, 2018 09:25 AM

Opinion

Letters to the editor

December 24, 2018 07:50 AM

Opinion

Letters to the editor

October 29, 2018 08:33 AM

Opinion

Letters to the editor

October 01, 2018 08:41 AM

Opinion

Good options to help Hurricane Florence victims

September 21, 2018 11:40 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Rock Hill Herald App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Advertising Information
  • Place Obituary, Celebration
  • Place Classified, Legal
  • Local Deals
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story