Thirty- something speaks
John Ozmint for president
Mike Maddock

John Ozmint is my new favorite government employee. Ozmint is the director of the S.C. Corrections Department, and he had the unmitigated gall to enforce a policy in which prisoners choose not to eat if they choose not to follow the Corrections Department's reasonable requirements. In other words, if Rocko on cellblock D decides to go pantsless to breakfast, then Rocko is choosing not to eat his Wheaties that morning.

Of course, some people are upset about this policy. Former State Corrections Director Bill Leeke is quoted in a June 26 article in The State comparing our prisons to concentration camps. I'm confused. Does that mean Mr. Leeke thinks the millions of innocent Jews slaughtered in Auschwitz and other such Hell- holes were criminals? I hope not.

In the same article, we are subjected to yet another statement from a prototypical American Civil Liberties Union lawyer named Margaret Winter. She apparently has lots of litigation experience with "terrible prison conditions," but we can assume she has never witnessed the horror of making a prisoner skip lunch because he didn't shave (gasp!).

The irony of this whole situation is that if some of these prisoners' moms or dads had sent them to bed without dinner years ago before they decided to knock off a liquor store or two, then maybe, just maybe, we wouldn't be calling these guys criminals. They wouldn't be subject to the rules and regulations of our corrections department. Ozmint is doing something to our prisoners that should have been done to them years ago, and I commend him for that. In his own words, he's attempting to "teach these men and women to comply with rules and show some respect for themselves and others."

I can only hope Mr. Leeke and Ms. Winter don't come by my house any time soon. If they did, then they might call me the next Hitler and slap a lawsuit on me, because Mr. Ozmint and I have something in common.

While he's monitoring thousands of unruly criminals, I'm responsible for three children. I'm not calling my kids criminals, but unacceptable behavior can be found in the Big House and in my little house.

Case in point. My four- year- old son was deliberately disobeying his pre- school teachers. He was also throwing fits and being a general nuisance at the beginning of this past school year. My wife and I tried reasoning with him. We also threatened spanking, but none of that worked. Finally I decided to send him to bed without dinner one night. Somewhere Leeke is gasping again and Winter is filing papers, but I've got news for those two. It worked.

My son was sent to bed twice without dinner this year. He didn't starve, although his food intake at breakfast grew considerably. He wasn't emotionally scarred for life that I know of, and he suddenly started behaving at school. He also found out that when he behaved, school was a much more fun place to be. He hasn't missed a meal since. As an added bonus, my two older children are not making plans to miss any meals either.

Ozmint has one of the toughest, most thankless jobs in State Government. Let's not make it any harder by ringing our hands over hungry prisoners. From what I've seen, some of them could stand to lose a few pounds anyway. And if they get a little weak, then maybe they'll be less inclined to attack our prison guards.