SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN!

[Damen]

I agree. Along with the deficit, one of the biggest problems we face. As long as people keep sending the same people back to congress, it wont change.

 

Once representatives feel their ass is on the line, they'll start voting with their constituents best interest in mind, not those who fill up the campaign funds.

[Steve]

The original intent was for the government to fear the people. Now its the people that fear the government.

 

I don't see any hope whatsoever. I really don't. Something of gigantic proportions has to happen to shake up the people and the government. I'm not talking 911 terrorist stuff but something to do with how government is run.

 

My dad, a Deacon in our church as a kid (oh God, just conjured up memories of being dragged to sunday school and missing the first quarter of the Eagles game till I was in my midteens!) used to say '...run the moneychangers out of office....'

 

In the decades to come when we break under the burden of our national debt and mismanagement I see the U.S. going the same route as England. (apologies to our Brit friends). Still a power to some extent but no longer THE pre-eminent power.

[Central Scrutinizer]

Okay, maybe I'm in a left of center mood because of supporting Dems this year. So, that will be my excuse for the following.

 

Now, I'm all for punishing criminals, etc. but I cringe a little when I hear they get pennies an hour. I'm assuming they can be legally excluded from minimum wage laws.

 

I approve of a lot of the Sheriff's programs (pink undewear for example). Even this animal rescue thing. However, with regards to the pay we pay prisoners, its closer to the slave labor we accuse China of doing.

 

I think there is even a road gang like in the old days in Alabama somewhere.

 

I know I'll be labeled soft on prisoners. Maybe even rightfully, but I'm in an ACLU/Human Rights mood lately...lol...(I used to despise the ACLU). Shouldn't they get minimum wage? And then give the victims of certain crimes the money they receive. Is that proposition slave labor or paying back for your crime? Am I getting soft in my old age?

 

 

 

Steve,

 

As far as I am concerned they shouldn't even get the 28 cents they do make. Here's the choice, get out and work, or sit in your cell and do your time slowly. Most of what he does helps cut the tax burden it costs us to take care of the convicts. More of this should be being done around the country. They are there to be punished for their crimes, some of which are horrendous. I love a lot of what he has done and is doing. I doubt I would if I was a prisoner in his jail. But as long as the prisoners are not physically forced to work, i.e. beaten physically if they don't choose to work, I don't see it as a problem at all. It looks from what I have read here and before on this sheriff it is actually helping some prisoners gain some work experience and a trade they could use once outside again. Also, growing the foods to feed the prisoners, an excellent idea and cost saving method. They are paying their debt to society for breaking the laws of society. I love what he did with the TV/Cable, and the weights! Hell, many of these gym rat prisoners come out even more bulked up and dangerous physically then when they went in. (Granted many do this to protect themselves from other predatory prisoners.)

 

I think he is on the right track with his ideas and implimentations in prison reform.

 

When you leave prison it should be with the frame of mind that you DO NOT want to go back. Why make life easy for the predators of society to pay back for their crimes?

 

The only thing that I would argue with is the 'crimes' some of these people are in for. Drug crimes (use/minor possession), etc.

 

But look what he has done for his county in saving money! And the way the prisoners have a way to get out of their cells and do something useful and even pleasant for themselves. Being in contact with dogs and cats in the animal rescue must be very therapuetic for many of them. Being outside and growing food and X-mas trees, etc. Sounds better than many other prisons and the options provided for the prisoners to 'do their time'.

 

JMHO

 

Cent

[USVirgin]

Regardless of popular sentiment a prison sentence is deprivation of liberty for a period of time, not slave labor in appalling conditions.

 

This applies to the mainstream of society, not, at the other extreme, the "institutionalized."

 

Distinguishing the prisoners by their different levels of hell is a real challenge. I think administrators care about it, but my guess is that few on the ground level give a fuck, hence jail cell suicides - whoever did it.

 

In general, prisoners should simply be allowed to do their time, semi-comfortably, if that's what they want.

 

I'm all for letting them do work at extremely low levels of pay, for their rehab and sense of responsibility and so that at least they have a few bucks when they leave. Not sure about animal shelters, but it should be easy enough to find employers who can't find help but for illegal aliens. I really don't mind if their jobs are taken, as long as they're not taken by other illegal aliens in our jail system.

[Guest lazyphil]

i dont know about america but here in the uk criminals/prisoners rights seem to over ride the victims. why shouldn't a child rapist/killer for example be brutalised on a daily basis as the mother or father will be tormented every waking hour. make them work for no money. steve, you are getting soft!

[Faustian]

Incarceration is a fitting punishment, but the time inside should not be easy and all prisoners should be assessed by well qualified skillful practitioners..I also feel treatment should be offered to offenders and help with their return to the outside, especially in the case of dangerous offenders. I do feel locking someone up and taking away their freedom is appropriate, but I do feel that time inside should be used to give back to society, not just a holding pen, until they've finished a sentence.

 

Revenge is not an appropriate response imho. Brutalising someone will just make them a lot more dangerous after they are released.

[Central Scrutinizer]

"a child rapist/killer for example"

 

But these bastards should never BE let out, under any circumstances.

[Bangkoktraveler]

Sheriff Joes jail is just a jail. Some of his prisoners are people not convicted of a crime but waiting for a trial. Shit one person spent over a year in his prison and he committed no crime. He was sent there because he was accused of having a dangerous form of TB. Turned out his TB wasn't dangerous. This poor shit head got Sheriff Joe's normal treatment which included minimum medical care. Shit, in some USA jails, if the jailers don't feel like giving a prisoner his meds, the prisoners don't get them and no law has been broken.

[Faustian]

"a child rapist/killer for example"

 

But these bastards should never BE let out, under any circumstances.

 

I agree, but accurate assessment needs to be done on these people too and at present it isn't. I'm all for locking up those who've committed such crimes, but their time inside should then be used to do something useful.

 

A distinction needs to be made. Child killers shouldn't be allowed free, especially those of a psychopathic nature. They will reoffend. Research indicates that some child rapists wont reoffend and often feel huge remorse, although many don't. No one is prepared to spend money on such things. Lock 'em up, serve their time, release and then they are more likely to be dangerous is how things go now...this is wrong and a recipe for disaster.

 

[Steve]

steve, you are getting soft!

 

You've been talking to the ex again?

 

I don't agree with all the creature comforts. These are almost always started by guys who are doing a long sentence and lifers as well.

 

From the little I know, guys doing...say...two years or 18 months are just counting the days to get out. They are calendar watching. Guys doing 20 years, life, sentences like that. They want to duplicate life on the outside because prison is their home. They either consciously or sub consciously acknowldge that.