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Have a read of this..

USAJAIL - SOME INTERESTING READINGTO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO, HE IS THE MARICOPACOUNTYSHERIFF ( ARIZONA ) AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER AGAIN.These are some of the reasons why:Sheriff Joe Arpaio created the 'tent city jail' to save Arizona from spending tens of millions of dollars on another expensive prison complex.He has jail meals down to 20 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.He banned smoking and pornographic magazines in the jails, and took awaytheir weightlifting equipment and cut off all but 'G' movies. He says: 'They're in jail to pay a debt to society not to build muscles so they can assaultinnocent people when they leave.'He started chain gangs to use the inmates to do free work on county and city projects and save taxpayer's money.Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued fordiscrimination.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 but only allows the Disney channel and the weather channel.When asked why the weather channel,he replied: 'So these morons will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs.'He cut off coffee because it has zero nutritional value and is therefore a waste of taxpayer money. When the inmates complained, he toldthem, 'This isn't the Ritz/Carlton. If you don't like it, don't come back.'He also bought the Newt Gingrich lecture series on US history that he pipes into the jails. When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series that actually tells the truth for a change would be welcome and that it might even explain why 95% of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record for June 2nd2007), the Associated Press reported: About 2,000 inmates living in a barbedwiresurrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to theirgovernment-issued pink boxer shorts.On theWednesday, hundreds of men wearing pink boxer shorts were overheardchatting in the tents, where temperatures reached 128 degrees.'This is hell. It feels like we live in a furnace,' said Ernesto Gonzales, an inmate for 2years with 10 more to go. 'It's inhumane.'Joe Arpaio, who makes his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. 'Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for parole, only to go out and commit more crimes so they can come back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things many taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.'The same day he told all the inmates who were complaining of the heat in the tents: 'It's between 120 to 130 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to walk all day in the sun, wearing full battle gear and get shot at, and they have not committed any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!'Way to go, Sheriff! If all prisons were like yours there would be a lot less crime and we would not be in the current position of running out of prison spaces.If you agree, pass this on.If not, just delete it.Sheriff Joe was just re-electedas Sheriff in Maricopa County , Arizona

Keith Iddon ● 6218d31 Comments

Many forum users will be aware that I was once kindly granted the opportunity to study this subject first hand in preparation for my later role as Lead Member for Community Safety.What amazed me was the number of people who had been gaoled for really short periods of time - in some cases as little as five days.  Presumably their offences were not major ones.The logistics of sending somebody to prison are complex, and the process is hugely expensive.  I couldn't then, and still cannot, fathom the rationale behind a system which spends thousands of pounds sending a petty offender through court, then detaining him (it's usually a him, although not always) for several hours after having been sentenced, transporting him to the big house in Lambeth where convicts are/were sorted according to their various destinations, delivering him to the prison by coach, interviewing him, medically examining him, assigning then escorted him to a cell, hopefully finding him employment and looking after him for a few days whereupon large amounts of officer time are again spent during the process of releasing him.During that time he may, if he is lucky, enjoy the benefit of a crash-course on burglary, fraud, or any other more serious misdemeanour courtesy of any number of experts.Please understand I am not talking about murders, rapists or terrorists here.  There are guys at the other end of the scale, who park on double yellow lines or fail to take their library books back on time.How much this has changed in 22 years I'm not sure, but if it has I'm not aware of any legislation covering it.It occurs to me that community service should be much more widely used.  Apart from anything else statistics show that offenders who are given community service orders are less likely to reoffend, albeit only marginally.  Surely it is right that those who offend against society should be expected to put something back into it?  As opposed to sitting in a prison cell, where they serve no purpose and are merely a drain on the taxpayer.Apart from the economic benefits to the system, this would free up hundreds, possibly thousands of prison places for those people who really need to be there, thus saving us the need to build more of the damn things.I know this doesn't address the issue raised by Philip concerning the rights and wrongs of imprisoning people for drug activity.  I'm not quite sure how far he feels the law should be relaxed on this but that's another discussion for another thread.  The great irony is, however, that whatever the law may be in relation to drugs on the outside, if my own observations are anything to go by half the population of our prisons is permanently stoned, a situation with which the officers seem perfectly happy as it keeps them quiet and docile.As I keep saying on my blog (http://philandrews.blogspot.com - plug!), it's a funny old world.

Phil Andrews ● 6215d

Yes Phil, I suppose on reflection you are right. I certainly have no respect for a councillor, who sees only his point of view, anyone speaks on immigration for example, doesn't make them scum. It is all too easy to use racism to stop a sensible discussion, or concerns that they may have. Which particular race does he mean, who I, or others have mentioned to bring about the use of the word “scum”,  ……………we need to know what we are, or not allowed to discuss, by an official who holds the office of a councillor, notwithstanding that he is quite happy, to freely  call anyone and everyone he disagrees with, and describes them with his favourite word “scum”, but I suppose it gets the votes that keeps him in office  He has in the past used this to describe me, but is never able to give any examples that demonstrate this. His rhetoric is an absolute disgrace, and does absolutely nothing to enhance the office that he was elected to. I too also share every ones loathing of racism, but he seems to assume that this is something that is perpetrated exclusively by one particular group. Having firm principles is something I too admire, providing that it reflects his duty, which is to represent each and everyone, and providing  also that the principle is not a sham, by cosying up to those most likely to vote for him, as he and Alan Keen does.  His (A. Keen) recent smear, that accused council officers of "institutional racism", is an absolute disgrace, yet no one has offered any evidence for this. What else can you expect from New Labour or for that matter ex Labour councillors? I agree with Keith, he and his commie ex colleagues are a spent force and we can expect more of this bile to come from them.“Sadly there is a great amount of gamesmanship involved in the Labour side of local politics, and John in my view didn't manage to discard all this with his party membership card"Or his arrogance and hatred of Anglo-Saxons!, their history and culture,  I suppose that is not racist though?

Account suspended ● 6216d