5) Use “Joe Arpaio-style” tent jails out in the desert for most inmates, as they cost just a fraction of what “brick” jails cost. This will eliminate the prison overcrowding, and reduce much of the violence and expense found in that system. Plus inmates can serve their entire term, without early release.’
IIRC, Sheriff Joe has very few repeat offenders....less than 10%.
He gives them a dose of hard living that they do not want to repeat. Oatmeal for breakfast. Peanut Butter & Jelly for lunch. Spagetti for dinner. PINK underwear that keeps them from taking it home when they leave. Women & men on the chain gangs breaking up rocks.
While those are good selling points, and it is a little creepy how far “public sadism” can go on the subject(*), the point Joe made from the beginning was that this saves a huge amount of public money.
Few today remember that when he first came into office 15 years ago, it was obvious that expenses for incarceration were out of control. Since then, the population of the county has doubled, but because of how he has managed things, the price for incarceration has dropped. While elsewhere costs have skyrocketed, and dangerous criminals are turned out on the street because of overcrowding.
(*) On other forums, “public sadism” directed towards misdemeanor criminals reflects a huge amount of anger at them. Otherwise sensible people openly advocate torture and mutilation of petty offenders, virtually without limit. And it’s hard to tell how much of that they really mean.