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Misconceptions on prison punishment

Re: Punishment should fit the crime, Letters, April 6, 2011.

I want to assure Ken Levert that there is no Internet available at federal prisons, not for 24 hours or for one minute. Inmates are not allowed to access computers that are Internet ready, including anything above a Playstation 1.

Inmates pay for their own basic cable out of the $6.90 or less they may earn per working day. They also buy computers out of this income.

A life sentence for first degree murder does not mean freedom after 25 years. If granted parole, you are finishing your sentence in community with many restrictions.

For example a parolee with a condition against drinking can be returned to prison for being seen in a bar.

I too grieve for the victims of crime. We would do well to help victims and offenders heal through victim-offender mediation.

We might all remember that nothing is created in a vacuum. We are all part of the problem and the solution.

Joanna Wilkinson

Victoria