I am perplexed by Dwaine Heinrich's letter to the editor castigating the North Dakota Senate Republicans for not supporting the building of a woman's state prison here in Jamestown. He fails to say that the Democrat senator from Jamestown was vehemently opposed to it which gave the rest of the Democrats a cue from her to not support the prison. She made her decision from a certain vantage point. It was not just an attempt to discredit the Republican super majority.
Heinrich also fails to say that the Republican senator from Jamestown "called in the cops" over an e-mail written by the Democratic senator, thereby setting up a Keystone Kops fiasco leaving the door wide open for the Republican Senators from the other districts to withhold their support of the bill. Those senators have their own turf to protect and want to bring jobs to their districts.
He is upset that the senate did not adhere to the studies regarding a women's prison and make their decisions based on the studies. As for studies, many times the outcome is delineated prior to the study and the participants are carefully chosen based on the outcome desired by those calling for the study.
Who are the losers here? The city of Jamestown and Stutsman County and the taxpayers of North Dakota. Personalities and power won out over jobs for Jamestown and a sensible solution for the incarceration of lawbreakers.
As for the lawsuits threatened by the women prisoners: Let us not forget they are prisoners for a reason. We all make choices in life. Some of us have had less than Ozzie and Harriet childhood homes, but we have made the choice to live within the law. I am not advocating an Iraqi style prison for the wrong-doers, both men and women, but maybe prison garb and a quiet area for reflection on the choices made would be in order.
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Clarice Liechty
Jamestown, N.D.
