Inside America's toughest jail (Brit paper says Sheriff Joe Arpaio's ideas would be great for U.K.)

The Sun (U.K.) ^ | April 28, 2007 | HARRY MACADAM

[Stoat]

The Sun Online - Sun Says Prison camp

Prison camp

April 28, 2007
 
 

 

BRITAIN’S answer to overcrowded prisons is to promise 8,000 new jail places — by 2012 and at a cost of £1billion.

 

In the old Wild West of the Arizona desert they have a different solution: put up more tents.

As today’s Sun report reveals, tough-guy Sheriff Joe Arpaio has 1,000 prisoners under army-surplus canvas in a no-nonsense jail that cost £50,000 to erect.

And he has tough punishments for any convict caught with items that are a staple in British cells — coffee, cigarettes and porn.

Break the rules and you’ll get a spell on the chain gang wearing a striped uniform and pink underwear.

And to save taxpayers’ cash the food is past its sell-by date and Christmas dinners costs 2p each — less than is spent on the guard dogs.

Sheriff Arpaio is a hero to the decent people who keep re-electing him and who regularly give him approval ratings of over 80 per cent.

Battered on all sides by the Health and Safety Gestapo and PC pen-pushers, it’s not a popularity level Home Secretary John Reid is ever in danger of reaching.

[Stoat]

 

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

[TLI]

Our concealed carry laws would work wonders for the UK as well.

[SandRat]

Sheriff Joe would love being called the “High Lord Sheriff.”

[Stoat]

Our concealed carry laws would work wonders for the UK as well.
 

Agreed!  Placing people in charge of their own destiny has a wonderful way of creating a polite society.

[Stoat]

Sheriff Joe would love being called the “High Lord Sheriff.”

LMAO!

And I'll bet he would love reorganizing Great Britain's prison system......and the British taxpayers would love him for saving them BILLIONS of pounds and helping to make them safe once again.

[ErnBatavia]

I flew over to Phoenix for a daytrip on business right before 9/11. I was visiting a seafood processing plant in an industrial area just off of downtown when I saw the two most huge bull dyke guards and a female chain gang street sweeping crew.

I ran into the office to grab my digi-cam out of my briefcase to get a shot of this, but Liz the office lady told me the "screws" would most definitely be unappreciative.....so I didn't.

Just damn.

[Jeff Chandler]

Correction:

inmates live on a vile diet of rotting food past its sell-by date

The food is neither vile nor rotting. The sell-by date is not the eat-by date.

[Mr. Mojo]

“Who knows how many crimes I have prevented because people are frightened of spending time in my jails?” - Sheriff Joe

The bottom line.

[Stoat]

Correction:

inmates live on a vile diet of rotting food past its sell-by date

The food is neither vile nor rotting. The sell-by date is not the eat-by date.

Agreed, I noticed that also.  Although the Sun frequently has some great stories, they are occasionally guilty of engaging in the time-honored tabloid tradition of hyperbole   :-)

Correction:

inmates live on a vile diet of rotting food past its sell-by date

The food is neither vile nor rotting. The sell-by date is not the eat-by date.

[Jeff Chandler]

I also heard that chain gang detail is a reward for good behavior, allowing the inmates to get out and around a bit.

[Stoat]

“Who knows how many crimes I have prevented because people are frightened of spending time in my jails?” - Sheriff Joe

The bottom line.
 

And hopefully a bottom line that will not be overlooked by readers in the UK.  They are long overdue of some relief from their crime and prison problems.....Sheriff Arpaio's solutions would be like a breath of fresh air for all concerned, if you'll pardon the pun   :-)

“Who knows how many crimes I have prevented because people are frightened of spending time in my jails?” - Sheriff Joe

The bottom line.
 

[Mr. Mojo]

And hopefully a bottom line that will not be overlooked by readers in the UK.

Or the U.S., for that matter. I'd like to see Arpaio's system adopted nationwide.

[Stoat]

Or the U.S., for that matter. I'd like to see Arpaio's system adopted nationwide.

That would be tremendous!  I wonder how he has managed to keep the ACLU at bay?  I thought that it was their firmly held contention that prisoners all had a 'right' to porn, TV, smoking, etc.

[Stoat]

I also heard that chain gang detail is a reward for good behavior, allowing the inmates to get out and around a bit.

That sounds familiar to me also.  Perhaps another error, or simply something that the reporter didn't fully understand because his 'inside tour' didn't last long enough?

[jakewashere]

If you think the Sun is being hyperbolic, you should hear what our local wretched lefty rag (the NEW TIMES) says about Arpaio every time he’s in the news. They’ve all but called him a Nazi.

[Stoat]

If you think the Sun is being hyperbolic, you should hear what our local wretched lefty rag (the NEW TIMES) says about Arpaio every time he’s in the news. They’ve all but called him a Nazi.

I'm sorry to hear that, but according to the Sun Says blurb, Sheriff Joe's approval rates typically exceed 80%.  This suggests to me that the New Times has poorer circulation than a dead tree, and that the people of Arizona are far smarter and better informed than the New Times' staff.

The New Times sounds like the 'crazy Aunt who lives in the attic' that makes a lot of noise but is mainly overlooked by the saner folks in the vicinity    :-)

[Mr. Mojo]

I wonder how he has managed to keep the ACLU at bay?

Just dug up a Lou Dobbs interview with Joe Arpaio from Oct. of '05:

ARPAIO: "Well, I don't care what they [the ACLU] say. We're legal. I do things legally. They don't like it, that's tough. In fact, my polls go up every time they blast me. So they can blast me every night."

(Full interview about 3/4 of the way down the page).

Googling "ACLU, Arpaio" brought of several links. They've been been after him for a long time. .....unsuccesfully.

[Mr. Mojo]

Let’s try that again: Googling “ACLU, Arpaio” brought up several links; they’ve been after him a long time. .....unsuccessfully.

[buccaneer81]

The food is neither vile nor rotting. The sell-by date is not the eat-by date.

It may not kill anything but your appetite. Having been a guest of the Franklin County (Ohio) jail several years ago, I can tell you that the bologna was consistently green.