As a survivor of sexual assault myself, even I don't believe that prison is the answer, especially for kids. It just traumatizes and twists people more deeply, and either makes them more mean or more self-destructive: in either case, there's a high recidivism rate pointing to the fact that prison fails most prisoners. A few rare souls may emerge "better" people, not because of the prison so much, though, as because of who they already were going in. My bet is that prison destroys more lives than it helps to rebuild...lives like Jerry Kulp's.
Our condolences to Jerry's family and friends.
Associated Press
Posted on May 12, 2010 at 6:19 PM
Updated Thursday, May 13 at 9:31 AM
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities say a state prison inmate has died at a Tucson hospital less than a week after an apparent suicide attempt.
Arizona Department of Corrections officials say 17-year-old Jerry Kulp died Tuesday at University Medical Center after being taken off life support. They say Kulp's family authorized the withdrawal of care.
Kulp was transported to the hospital on May 5, just two days after he entered the prison system.
DOC officials say Kulp was sentenced out of Maricopa County and was serving 10 years for sexual assault. He was at the minors unit of the state prison complex in Tucson.