About Prison Conditions (long)

[RICHARD]

Arpaio and his comparing troops to convicts is stupid and not even funny.

Soldiers and criminals do have a choice as to where they end up- but that's about it.

The Hanging Sheriff has always been a pompous, smarmy attention seeking public figure.

I do agree with not giving some criminals the luxury of benefits that some common citizens can't even afford. But, his denial of even the most basic medical care to inmate at his tent jail is really inhumane.

I don't agree with the ACLU and all the other idiot groups that are challenging Arpaio and his handling of his charges, but think of what 30 million dollars could have been spent on to prevent any other lawsuits from being lost by the county where the jail is located.

Yep the taxpayers are happy with the way he runs his jails, until little Joey, Hubby Tom or Uncle Chuck end up there for some low level crime.

Then, the place becomes a horror of horrors-a place where NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO STAY.

[moosmom]

Don't do the crime you can't do the time. That's how I see it. And RICHARD you're right, criminals DO have a choice. I get so ticked off when prisoners, who HAD a choice on whether to commit a crime, complain about the prison conditions. 3 squares a day, unlimited use of a law library, paid dental care, paid medical care...what in the hell is there to complain about?? There are homeless people on the street going without who deserve such conditions!!! Hey, it ain't the Howard Johnson and you're not there on a vacation. You COMMITED A CRIME. Hellllooooooo!!!!!

[Catty1]

Donna - did you read everything that was written here? I pasted this here again:

most inmates will eventually be released back into society. If they have been properly rehabilitated they will become assets to our society. If they have not, they will continue to pose problems and cost society more money and grief.

Mr. Hanger, at the end of his article on the Maricopa Jail system, asked for input from readers relative to changes that should be made to Canadian prisons. In one way this is great. We, as taxpayers, pay for the prison system; we should therefore have a say in how it is run.
Looked at in another way, an elected official asking for tips from the general public on how to improve a prison system is sort of like a farmer asking his bank manager how to heal his sick pig. The farmer should be asking a veterinarian.

Mr. Hanger should, perhaps, be asking criminologists, psychologists and other experts in the field of human behaviour how we can design a penal system that does a better job of putting inmates back on the straight and narrow, with the least effort and the least cost to us, as taxpayers.

We have to incarcerate certain types of offenders. Some of them should be locked away for life. Once we incarcerate them, however, we as responsible men and women, have a moral responsibility to set an example and provide humane prison conditions.

And from RICHARD'S post:

I do agree with not giving some criminals the luxury of benefits that some common citizens can't even afford. But, his denial of even the most basic medical care to inmate at his tent jail is really inhumane.

I don't agree with the ACLU and all the other idiot groups that are challenging Arpaio and his handling of his charges, but think of what 30 million dollars could have been spent on to prevent any other lawsuits from being lost by the county where the jail is located.

Yep the taxpayers are happy with the way he runs his jails, until little Joey, Hubby Tom or Uncle Chuck end up there for some low level crime.

Then, the place becomes a horror of horrors-a place where NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO STAY.

Do you mean, Donna, that even the low-level offenders should be treated like scum? If we do that, and most of them are back on the street one day (which happens), we will have directly contributed to having a great increase in the number of scummy people on the street.

There ARE offenders who are owed no favours or special treatment. This is made clear by both the original writer of the letter, and by R's post. There are MANY exceptions, however - and our attitude towards them says much more about us than it does about them.

They cannot all be painted with one brush.

[moosmom]

Catty1,

I'm talking about hardened, career criminals not people who j-walk or have overdue parking tickets.

[Catty1]

Well...jaywalkers and folks with overdue tickets usually don't do time. There are others that do, and will be back on the streets - they aren't "hardened". Not everyone in jail is - that was my point, and that of others.

[sparks19]

I don't know... I don't think that just because you commit a low level crime you should get a cushy room at the ritz. You commited a crime. There would be no point to jail if it was pleasant.

They can go through therapy to be rehabilitated but i do not believe that they should get any kind of special treatment in prison. I mean... what is there to deter them from committing a crime again if jail is a walk in the park?

[Catty1]

The original column and responding letter did not say jail should be cushy...but that it should NOT be where the Maricopa Jail is.

Reread the letter to the editor in the first post, and look closely at the conditions there. Tent temperatures high enough to kill a dog? Rotting food?

a respected physician terminated his services to the Correctional Health Service earlier this year because the health care being delivered did not meet constitutional minimums.

Sheriff Arpaio commissioned researchers at Arizona State University to conduct a study. The researchers did so and concluded that the sheriff’s methods had no significant effect on recidivism...The results of the sheriff’s study are supported by information contained on the Public Safety Canada website. A research summary on that website states that “. . . harsher criminal justice sanctions had no deterrent effect on recidivism. On the contrary, punishment produced a slight (three per cent) increase in recidivism.”

I wonder if anyone so far has read the ENTIRE column and the ENTIRE reply. Harsh and inhumane punishment does NOT work.

[lizbud]

I've always liked Sheriff Joe's way of running his jail.