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Letters: What pope can expect in jail

WHAT WILL Pope Francis see as he tours Philadelphia's largest and newest jail, Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility? As a civil-rights lawyer who has advocated on behalf of hundreds of CFCF inmates, I believe the pope's CFCF visit will provide a stark contrast to the balance of his time spent in Philadelphia.

WHAT WILL Pope Francis see as he tours Philadelphia's largest and newest jail, Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility?

As a civil-rights lawyer who has advocated on behalf of hundreds of CFCF inmates, I believe the pope's CFCF visit will provide a stark contrast to the balance of his time spent in Philadelphia.

He will see a massively overcrowded, understaffed facility and learn that a significant majority of the inmates suffering the intolerable conditions there are pretrial detainees - convicted of no crime, but jailed only because they are not able to afford bail. More than 20 percent of the inmates suffer from serious mental illnesses that are frequently untreated. He will see essential services, including medical care, "outsourced" to private corporations whose profits are inversely related to the service they provide.

The millions expected to visit Philadelphia to see Pope Francis deliver Mass will likely not be thinking about the inmates at CFCF, but it's more likely than not that Pope Francis will be. If Philadelphia is to be a truly world-class city, it should expect that one metric by which it ought to be judged is the quality of the conditions of confinement individuals accused - but not convicted - of a crime must endure.

Christopher Markos

Philadelphia

Trump's obvious racism, hidden denial

Donald Trump wants all children of immigrants to be deported because they are considered to be in this country illegally. Trump is an avowed racist and a leopard never changes its spots. Ever since President Barack Obama has been in office, he has had questioned everything from his birth place to him being a citizen of the United States and stating that a person who is not a citizen should not be allowed to become president of the United States.

Well, Trumpy you should go back to where your ancestors came from and not be allowed to run for president of the United States. The illegal immigrants came here and began to steal this land from the true Americans who were the Native Americans who had their land and culture stolen from them by these illegal immigrants and were made to live on reservations, uneducated and turn these peaceful people into alcoholics in their own land. The illegal immigrants who come over here murdered the very people who taught them how to cultivate the land and how to grow food and hunt to survive the harsh winters and any other type of hazard in this land and what was their reward? Land taken away, labeled savages, where they were just defending their land against foreign invaders of which I am sure that some of your ancestors were a part of the invasion. If the people of this country elect you president, this country will go to hell in a handbag.

Donald Trump is the devil and if he is elected to run this country, the people will get more than they bargained for and then some. So people, open up your eyes to the racist attitude of the likes of Donald Trump and do not make him the president of the United States.

Lora Neal

Philadelphia