AMEN! My kinda sheriff!

[Genie!]

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (in Arizona) who created the tent city jail, has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights and cut off all but "G" movies.

He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects. Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination.

He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails. So he hooked up the cable TV again only let in the Disney channel and the weather channel. When asked why the weather channel he replied, so they will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs.

He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value. When the inmates complained, he told them, "This isn't the Ritz/Carlton. If you don't like it, don't come back."

With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record), the Associated Press reports:

About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed-wire surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts.

On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 degrees inside the week before.

Many were also swathed in wet, pink towels as sweat collected on their chests and dripped down to their pink socks.

"It feels like we are in a furnace," said James Zanzot, an inmate who has lived in the tents for 1 1/2 years. "It's inhumane."

Joe Arpaio, the though-guy sheriff who created the tent city 2 yrs ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic.

He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates:

"It's 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!"

Way to go, Sheriff! Maybe if all prisons were like this one, there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.

[SHATOUSHKA]

hmmmm... i can see why people would applaud someone
like this sherrif... but then again, i can also
see it being a bit ridiculous.

i think its rather clever that they wear pink.

but i think that the whole 'chain gang' thing is
a bit ridiculous. i also don't think they should
have exercise equipment removed. i also think the
soldier/iraq statement is a bit pretentious.

but what can i say?

i do wanna comment on this last bit... mainly
cuz it seems to be such a common thought....

Originally posted by Genie_thegiggler:
Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.

<font size="4" face="Tempus Sans ITC, Tahoma">comments like these disgust me. i think many
people are given the wrong idea about incarceration.
i also believe there is a distinct difference between
jail... and prison.

the term 'jail' was spattered all through the
piece, so i'm led to believe these inmates weren't
convicted of any 'serious' crime.... but maybe
thats my own stupidity.

i also think its pure propaganda to assume that
inmates live better than most 'free' people.

i also think its wrong to nod our heads and turn
a blind eye to the police state of a jail/prison
simply because we feel they 'deserve' it.

i dunno... punishment is such a sketchy topic.
we've been in the business of torturing people
(much less justifying it) for centuries.

i could prolly post and contradict myself all
day if i let myself... and still argue as if
my convictions are the sole weight in the
discussion.

i'm interested in what others have to say about
this thread.

so post

[zelazny]

Well, no surprises from my side of the ocean :

a jail-sentence is a punishment insofar that it removes your freedom. It's supposed to either A - keep you off the streets while you're dangerous, B - Re-educate you, C - give the people who got wronged the idea that there is justice being done.

And i doubt that making jail a living hell will do anything to make B work better. The only thing it does is satisfy the need for revenge of those outside.

I mean, c'mon, we're all people here in a country with laws (some stupid, but still) that are meant to make us all get along. As soon as you break one of those laws you get a punishment, but you are STILL a citizen of that country, you don't 'lose' your humanity or citizenship by being in jail. You're there to realize what you did wrong, because after a while, you're gonna get out and it's in the best interest of the rest of the people and yourself to have learned from that.

Whereas this sheriff is only trying to assert his superiority on those that are trusted in his care.

Because they did a crime they're supposed to be mistreated? That's a lot of eye for an eye attitude.. Anyone causing malnutrition (0.40 $ / a day, that can't be healthy food), forcing slave labor and overheating, not to mention unhygenienic enviromens for others would be sued, hated and put to jail in any other case, but just cause these are inmates he's not?

<font color="#5b5b5b" size="1">[ November 30, 2004 09:32 AM: Message edited by: zelazny ]</font>

[Mystyx]

well... as I do find his methods over the top... and perhaps a bit inhumane... I am not exactly gonna rush in there and stop him either....

[EarthVomit]

A) this post is OLD news. his prison tactics were new news a long time ago.
B) his prison policies and dealings have long since been changed and it is no longer that way.