Opinion: Mental welfare in jail takes heart
Jan 14, 2023
To the editor:
The Jan. 12 issue of Dartmouth Week featured the latest suicide at Bristol County jail. Firstly, we need to give thanks that Hodgson, whose cruelty to inmates welfare was well-established, whose overkill re-election posters saturated the area, lost to Paul Heroux, for sheriff. Heroux refers to another suicide as a "blind spot".
Despondency is no mystery.
People who hang themselves in jail have given up hope. We only have people to whom we can refer the values of life. Staff the jail with people who are compassionate, staff who know how to carry on a conversation, introduce ideas, and suggest better paths to take.
Mental welfare in jail or prison takes heart. No dullards, no political appointees.
David Tatlock,
Dartmouth
