About Prison Conditions (long)

[Lady's Human]

Blue, they wouldn't have to worry about food rotting, either, but I'd be more partial to the back 40 of Ft Drum, NY.

Hotter than hell in the summer, and long stretches of sub zero weather in the winter....and not much in between.

[critter crazy]

Blue, they wouldn't have to worry about food rotting, either, but I'd be more partial to the back 40 of Ft Drum, NY.

Hotter than hell in the summer, and long stretches of sub zero weather in the winter....and not much in between.

Dude, no kidding!! Everytime I went to Ft. Drum, no matter what time of the year, It ws always a miserable time!! We were there in August one year, and I froze my but off!!! LOL!! That would totally be a great spot for a Prison!

[RICHARD]

Arpaio runs a jail-not a prison.

I can see tossing a short term criminal into the clink there, but he doesn't have the facilities to house longer termed-hardened crooks in a setting like that.

The shire reeve is one of those creepy PIP who do things at an extreme level and then crow about it. Pink underwear, striped shirts and the chain gangs are part of putting down the law in the town and nothing more than that.

If the taxpayers are OK with him losing 30 million dollars -almost 2 million dollars a year since he was put in charge of the county's inmates, so be it.
Two million dollars a year hires how many more cops?
A few squad cars?
Overtime?
Community policing programs?
Equipment?

They just award criminals and their families money from the taxpayers that could be put to better use. As it is, they pay for that AHs arrogance and rules.

Yes, they did commit crimes and should be punished accordingly, but why should they be given a chance to benenfit from it? Would it make anyone feel good to put a person in jail who had a few parking tickets that were not paid and have them die there, in a jail that's closer to hell than it is punishment?


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It's pretty much the same with the El Lay county sheriffs- Look up the name Lee Baca and the stats on how the jails, more conventional that Arpaio's, wererun and you'd see the corruption, the beatings and deaths that occured under his watch.

[sparks19]

Nope... seems that my family are law abiding citizens. Imagine that.

And you know... I probably would feel sorry for them if a friend of family went to prison BUT... if they were truly guilty of their crime... they get what they deserve. It's JAIL. Generally I like to think that people are smart enough to understand that if they commit a crime they could go to jail. NO sympathy. they made their choice.

[Catty1]

What I noted was what appeared to me here as black-and-white thinking.

There are "good guys" and "bad guys" and all the "bad guys" are scum and ALL of them should be in the worst jail possible.

critter crazy

Yup, and they all deserved, some even went back. If they had gone to sherrif Joes prison, i highly doubt that tehy would have returned.

And I doubt you read the whole article then. The evidence is there - Joe's jail, or any harsh punishment, does NOT stop the person from committing crimes and "going back there". Unless they kill themselves.

Jenn - very sad story. THANK YOU for showing there are "shades of grey" in these situations.

Otherwise, much of the thinking here seems to be that all people in jail are equally bad and deserve hell. Then they come out even meaner and hell-bent on revenge. Gee, can't figure THAT out! And sparks19, where are they going to get rehab in a hellhole like that?

I don't care if a place has a workout room and good food. You still can't go anywhere you please. Your roommates and neighbours are chosen for you.

Even lose the good food and workout rooms - everyone has rights under the Constitution/Bill of Rights (Canada).

I'll bet poverty and tough economic times lead otherwise decent people to get into a situation out of desperation. Perhaps that was your friend, Jenn.

I haven't learned tons in life and have a long way to go - but part of being a formerly active addict meant that my thinking was all-or-nothing, black-and-white. Only as I slowly recovered did I come to realize that life is full of grey areas, and that there are few - if any - absolutes.

BTW - the fellow who wrote that letter to the editor? Former CNR cop of several decades. I agree with what he says - being a "do-gooder" is a good thing; nothing wrong with it at all.

[shepgirl]

Lately it seems the prisoners have more rights than the law abiding citizens. I know this as factual since my cousin is head macho in the prison system. The things prisoners have access to is ridiculous, they are treated better than some of us.
Big deal if they can't go anywhere...lots of handicapped or sick people never get to go out either.
As for hard times and economic changes making people do things out of desperation, I won't buy into that one. You don't rely on blaming the system for your troubles, you get off your butt and fix things.
Bad enough we are supporting our prisoners in grand style, no need to add insult to injury.
I feel if you commit the deed you pay for it . Fair is fair. Just because you are short of money or lose a job doesn't give you the right to take it out on society by committing crimes.

[sparks19]

Spin it how you want. I still don't think prisons should be like summer camp. and not everyone faces the same sentences. The differences between minimum security prisons and maximum security prisons are quite large. So if you rob a store unarmed it's unlikely you are going to end up in the maximum security prison.

I may see it black and white I suppose... but to me.. it pretty much is. You commit a crime, you are found guilty, you spend time in jail. Sorry if it doesn't prepare them to be model citizens because they don't get the finest foods or top of line work out equipment or sleep number beds and that they have to stay in a cell... apparently they weren't model citizens before. and many places have access to a prison psychiatrist. hence where they can get their rehab.

Each person makes a choice... I have made the choice to be law abiding ... therefore I don't end up in prison