I am a 59-year-old veteran incarcerated for the first time in 1998 for an act of stupidity that I regret. I would like to respond to the Jan. 7 column, “Maine prison system won’t be corrected until people outside demand reform,” by George Smith about Robert Reilly, a former Maine State Prison corrections officer, and the book Reilly wrote.

As a veteran, I never knew a system such as today’s barbaric prison system would exist in Maine. Smith is correct when he writes that people outside the prison system must demand things be fixed. People must demand change from our legislators and not from corrections officials whose job is to keep prisoners incarcerated.

The current prison system is about warehousing people and extracting as much money from the taxpayer as possible. Many times this extraction is through fear. The system is also protected by other state agencies and, in my opinion, the attorney general’s office. Nothing in this agency is transparent to legislators or taxpayers and no one is accountable for anything. Even the commissioner and the warden at Maine State Prison are privy to only what administrators want them to know.

The Maine State Prison industries program gets more than a $400,000 taxpayer subsidy each year to operate. That money could send about 40 minimum security prisoners to tech school each year to learn a trade and skill. A program such as that would give scores of prisoners hope, and when one has hope, anything is possible. The prison industries still would operate without this subsidy.

The prison does not have to comply with health regulations, and it doesn’t. Meals aren’t served at 140 degrees as required in all other food establishments. Inmates are forced to take showers in moldy, unsanitary, bacteria-ridden shower stalls. The drains constantly back up with contaminated water. Administrators have ignored this health hazard for years.

Though most prisoners and staff are registered voters, senators or representatives never visit to find out how money is spent, or to speak with either staff or prisoners about serious issues.

I have personally invited several legislators, but have been ignored. These are not correction issues because I see no correction, but they are issues of human rights and proper working conditions. Legislators are too busy passing laws about state sweeteners, not selling cats and dogs in pet stores and naming state animals, none of which is a pressing issue.

Legislators are always avoiding the prison issue.

I wonder whether any legislators tried contacting Smith or Reilly, former guards or prisoners to get some facts and insight about the real issues in the Maine prison system. Did they watch a Frontline show about mental health issues in the prison system?

Our legislators should question why elderly and ill inmates, who are no threat to anyone, are housed in maximum security facilities. I think it’s all about getting extra money and keeping beds full. These nonthreatening prisoners could be housed in assisted living facilities, nursing homes or be on home confinement with an electronic monitor for a fraction of the cost of a prison bed. Policies, however, are written to discourage these alternatives.

Over the years, I’ve written to legislators and Maine Prisoner’s Advocacy Coalition trying to create a Prison Oversight Committee composed of about nine upstanding bipartisan people who have no ties to the corrections system. They should have diverse backgrounds in journalism, education, mental health, medical, clergy, elder care, etc., and would be allowed to go into any prison anytime to speak with staff and prisoners alike, privately, concerning any and all issues. They should have access to any part of the facility that prisoners have and report all findings to a special committee and the governor.

Currently, when dignitaries come to the prison, they see what administrators want them to see and hear what administrators want them to hear. It’s all smoke and mirrors.

I urge every taxpayer to contact their legislators and demand they create and pass legislation for a Prison Oversight Committee. This would help staff, with better working conditions, most prisoners with a second chance, and taxpayers with lower incarceration costs and recidivism rates. The system would be more transparent than it is now, where taxpayers dumping their hard-earned taxes down a dark hole to warehouse prisoners with few positive results.

Right now, the fox is guarding the hen house, while legislators are trying to close down pet stores.

Thomas John May is an inmate at the Maine State Prison, Warren. He was sentenced on Jan. 19, 2000, to 18 years in prison on two counts of aggravated assault.