ACLU: Flat screen TVs? You think prisoners will stand such abuse?!
Posted on 03/17/2006 7:29:09 AM PST by george76
A $59 million jail featuring art and flat screen TVs in Portland, Ore., has been sitting unused for more than a year as the city can't afford to open it.
The Wapato Facility took two years to construct and can house 525 inmates at a cost of $20 million per year, ....
The county spent more than $600,000 on art for the jail, including a sculpture out front by the circular driveway.
There are 30-foot vaulted ceilings and private showers.
"I love coming to an empty $59-million jail," Giusto told the Los Angeles Times. "I get tired of telling people how dumb we are."
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
They ought to lease it to a private prison company who have contracts with over crowded jails.
Give them a tent and a portable potty.
Not Art, no flat screen tvs, no private showers...
Your tax dollars at work.../s
This is an empty jail.
They built it and no one came.
Further frustrating ... is a shortage of jail beds that has forced police around the city to systematically release inmates early to make room for new ones.
Honestly, how can you expect a hardened criminal to be able to acclimate himself to back to freedom without a flat screen T.V., art to inspire him, a private shower, and $38,000 a year to care for his poor soul.
I mean honestly, "Together, America we can do better" (The DNC new slogan)
Soon they will want free drugs, prostitutes...
Here is an idea. How about charging the inmates rent? I bet plenty of guys would pony up the cash to stay in such a nice jail.
Well, the drugs and prostitutes are easily gotten........for free part is the tough nut.........at least for now.
But you never know what lurks in the heart of a liberal judge.
I'm sure somewhere in the Constitution is the right for drugs and prostitutes while you are paying your debt to society
Aren't you concerned that we'll all eventually end up in jail if someone's turning a profit off of it? Incarceration is the #1 industry by dollar-volume in Colorado. Surpassed agriculture and tourism a few years back. If the USCoC sees an opportunity to make a buck, they'll have no compunction about lobbying until there are as many people behind bars as is economically feasible. You really ready for Orwell's 1984?
This is an article from The Onion, right?
This can't possibly be true?
Right?
Please?
OY VEY!
Sorry.
Not Scrabbleface...either.
Reality is more strange than what we could make up.
No, but to answer your question about turning a profit off incarceration.
If it saves me as a taxpayer, I have no problem whatsoever.
Prisons don't pass the laws or do prisons pass sentences to put people into their facilities. They are the end of the line, housing the garbage that was processed out of society.
Also, private entities have to answer to the state at some point.
Now if the court systems were privatized, you might be onto something.
For all we know the $600K was spent on "art" like the penis sculptures in the public library in Boulder Colorado a few years back. This is Portland we're talking about, after all.
The people who authorized this jail to be built ought to become the permanent residents of their facility.
You said -- "Just checked hotel rates for Portland, well over half have single rooms for $110.00 or less per day."
Well..., that would be like when I go to San Francisco -- you can pay $250 a day there, if you want to -- or -- you can pay $25 a day. It's your choice.
The place I usually go to is called the "Green Tortoise" -- an eclectic mix of visitors from all over the world. It's kind of a cool place. It's located in North Beach, right next to Chinatown and just about four blocks from the Transamerica Building. So, it's right in the downtown area.
I usually go there when I'm down at MacWorld, having fun with all the new stuff for Apple Macintosh.
Just to compare, and for an example. I go to Tulsa, Oklahoma, too (relatives there...) and it has some of the lowest priced real estate around, I believe. But, the hotel rates can be around $80 to $100. So, I think hotels can be expensive no matter where you go. It seems they've got a fixed price no matter what city you're in, in the U.S.
Regards,
Star Traveler
You said -- "There is no real reason our tax money should go to their art work."
It wouldn't matter what type of public building you're talking about -- it's a requirement. It's mandated by law at one percent. So, no matter what type of building you were doing, it would be a requirement.
Regards,
Star Traveler
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