Focus on intervention, not prison

This is in regard to Jim Haley’s article on Nov. 21, “Insanity defense rejected,” regarding William Bergen Greene. It seems like it would be not only more efficient, but probably more effective to spend and allocate resources towards early intervention, rather than support for an entire lifetime. I think its obvious that after having invested in 36 years of rehabilitation for Mr. Greene, with many more to come, that our current methods are wasteful, punitive and ineffective. I think that Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Stern, quoted as having said “it’s an environment well suited for him” should be interpreted to mean that society has not prepared Mr. Greene for anything else but total dependency. No one wins. Let’s do something else.

Everett