JAIL: Problem is long wait times

“Guilty until proven innocent.” That’s why the jail is full but needn’t be. There was an article on Friday, May 14, 2010 on the opinion page headlined, “Jail: There’s more to the story,” and believe me, there is.

Ms. Allison said, “an opinion is just that,” when expressing her own. She starts off citing inmate totals. I have no idea on the accuracy of her numbers, other than I am among them. She states as of May 10, 2010, there are 368 total inmates in custody, of which 323 are housed here in the main jail and the jail is certified for 325.

I am not going to reiterate what has been claimed before me, but a major fact remains and is 100 percent true and accurate. That is that there are many inmates just waiting to go before a judge to plead guilty or not guilty who have been sitting here for literally months. Some have lost jobs, homes, and even small things like storage units which hold things dear to them.

Whatever happened to innocent before proven guilty? They could have been out there continuing to be productive instead of costing taxpayers money, and just so you know, these are not individuals who are high-risk offenders. They are just ordinary people who happened to have a bad judgment call on their part and are eager and willing to move forward and get on with their lives.

To help overpopulation, a major solution would be to lower bail and/or allow low-risk offenders to remain out of jail while their court date is pending, which in the long run eases the burden on taxpayers. 

M. DEAN

Kootenai County inmate