CPJ member Dan O'Rourke submitted the following letter to the Buffalo News, which was published in the March 4, 2008 issue:

Dear Editor,

Congratulations to the Buffalo News (2/25/08) and to Charity Vogel  for her courage in spotlighting the horrors female inmates suffer in our prisons.

I hope the Buffalo News will continue to shed light on the treatment  of the incarcerated. I once worked in prisons and know the difficult job correction officers have, but I also know that they, like all  with controlling authority over others, are tempted to abuse that  authority. Like some educators, clergy, psychologists and doctors,  some guards delude themselves into believing they can misuse those in  their care for their own purpose and pleasure.  In a horrible  perversion, they can debase and abuse those they are meant to protect  and help.

Senator Hubert Humphrey once said that the quality of a society "is  measured by how it treats those in the dawn of life, in the dusk of  life, and most importantly in the shadow of life.” These women are in  the shadows of life. What does their treatment say about the quality  of our society?

 Daniel O’Rourke
8002 Frisbee Road
Casadaga, NY 14718
595-2704