Juvenile Court Judge Charles Maxfield refused to grant
the order Friday. Defence lawyers had claimed their 17-year-old client’s
mattress is too thin, he has been denied reading material, his cell lights glare
24 hours a day and he is being denied vegetarian meals.
[Full story]
This is just too ridiculous, it sounds more
like a Monty Python sketch; the prisoner is not talking, bring the comfy
mattress. I have a strong suspicion that his thin mattress is probably better
than the 3″ mattress I slept on in a bunk while in the Navy. Since I mainly
worked night check the lights were also normally on during the day in the
berthing area, so this story is not invoking much sympathy for me. I also
imagine that this is quite a step up in comfort from sleeping in a car day after
day and firing a sniper rifle crouched in the trunk. The vegetarian part also
seems surreal, do sniper Vegans not eat anything that had eyes but will only
shoot a human being between the eyes? I am all for treating a prisoner with the
dignity that being a creation of God deserves but this does not mean that you
coddle them. At least this judge refused this silly request.
