I am sure many mothers and fathers of inmates in prison would agree that their children are many things, but not evil.

True, many inmates are uneducated and often have not been able to make ends meet. Some people say an education is the most important thing to have. Of course it is, if you can afford it. If it is so valuable, why would we want to spend tens of millions building a new prison that encourages a high occupancy rate when we would be able to educate hundreds of inmates and put them on the right path to a better future with the money?

Obviously, there are inmates who made mistakes they regret. There isn't anyone out there who hasn't regretted making a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, and that's a big part of life.

When ordinary people were losing their homes and suffering losses, inmates volunteered their lives to stop the wildfires that engulfed California. Because of them, people are safe and not living in undependable FEMA trailers.

The United States ranks first in the world for locking up fellow citizens in cages. People are sent to prison for more different offenses, for much longer periods of time than in any other country.We can thank an ever-increasing number of laws, mandatory sentencing, and the so-called "war on drugs."

People should know that police aren't legally obligated to protect them. Court decisions and state laws have held that when people are in danger, cops don't have to do a thing to help them. So in situations where cops lie for cops, even under oath, what evil they use and power they abuse. Yes, there are police that help us and are honest, but there are many who do not. Why do they break the law and continually get away with it?

People should stop being so simple-minded and negative. Many inmates are anything but evil. People should look out their own back doors.