In Phoenix, intensity in tent city
"It feels like we are in a furnace," said an inmate who has lived in the tents for 1 1/2 years. "It's inhumane." Joe Arpaio is not one bit sympathetic. He replied, "It's 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents, too. They have to wear battle gear, and they have not committed crimes."
Here is how Sheriff Joe Arpaio handles jail overcrowding in Arizona. He conveniently created a "tent city jail."
He has prison meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them. He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value.
He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the prison; took away their weights; cut off all but "G" movies; and took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that requires cable TV in jails. So he hooked up the cable TV again only let in the Disney Channel and the Weather Channel.
With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees), 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.
Way to go, Sheriff. Maybe if all prisons were like this one, there would be a lot less crime and repeat offenders. I am willing to bet that the taxpayers back home would be happy to kick in a few bucks to get things going.
Should this be implemented in every parish in Louisiana, the savings would be more than enough to repair the roads. Once the roads are repaired, the inmates would be more than happy to maintain them. From a layman's point of view, this is a win-win situation. Guess what? It will happen when the taxpayers demand that there is a solution to jail overcrowding. Until then — allow the tail to wag the dog!
Link Savoie is a retired U.S. Army Officer, a Korea and Vietnam veteran and worked in a POW camp in Vietnam. E-mail him at linkvfwla@aol.com.
