Crystal Wheeler-Potter: Women's prisons too crowded

I was paroled from Valley State Prison for Women in April after doing 18 years. I was subjected to being crammed in those four-person cells with eight women, and it is hell! The lawsuits initiated over inadequate health care listed overcrowding as one reason why care was so poor.

The proverbial ball started to roll when it was ordered by the federal courts to reduce the population, but that didn't last long, did it?

These women are once again crammed in like sardines and the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation continues to deny it. Do the math, folks! Not to forget the dangers for both inmates and correctional officers guarding them. It is an explosion waiting to happen every day.

Women's prisons are becoming increasingly dangerous due to many factors, but overcrowding is a big one. I experienced more violence and turmoil when crammed in these small cells with eight than I did for the short lived period of time we had only four (seven months).

CRYSTAL WHEELER-POTTER

Pomona