Thread: Joe Arpaio

I thought you guys would want to read about this, but most of you already know about him I assume. What do you think of his ways: They are very controversial in the system and he has been in trouble for a couple murders and such...

HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF

AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER

THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (in Arizona) who created the "tent city jail"

He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving! and charges the inmates for them.

He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights.. Cut off all but "G" movies.

He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects.

Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination.

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 with only the Disney channel and the weather channel.

When asked why the weather channel he replied, so they will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs.

He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value and saved the county over $90,000 a year.

When the inmates complained, he told them, "This isn't the Ritz/Carlton -- If you don't like it, don't come back!"

He bought Newt Gingrich's lecture series on tape 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 might explain why a lot of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.



More on the Arizona Sheriff:

With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record), the Associated Press reports: About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed-wire-surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts.

On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 degrees inside the week before.

Many were also swathed in wet, pink towels as sweat collected on their chests and dripped down to their pink socks.

"It feels like we are in a furnace," said James Zanzot, an inmate who has lived in the tents for 1 year . "It's inhumane."

Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates: "It's 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!"

Way to go, Sheriff! Maybe if all jails/prisons were like this one, there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for their release, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers' money and enjoy things taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.

More info (Updated)

Sheriff Joe is definitely one of my modern day heroes!!

Originally Posted by JMS

Sheriff Joe is definitely one of my modern day heroes!!

Am I surprised by that ? lol

Is this just for short term criminals as I fail to see how it would work very well for someone with 3 life sentences to run consecutively or on death row. Don't come back wouldn't really apply in those sorts of cases and there would be very little incentive for them to behave.

Some of these types of things work for a few people but make others even more violent. I don't think there have been prisons were you're treated very badly over here for many, many years. Unless you include detention centres for young offenders which were run along military lines but they got rid of them almost 20 years ago afaik.

I think things like broadcasting only certain political speeches, trying to degrade people by making them wear pink and only giving them the disney or weather channel to watch are way over the top as there seems to be no real rational reasoning behind it. It just feels a bit like being told as a kid you can't do something because your parent just says so which never sat well with me, or most other kids afaik.

Originally Posted by murph

Is this just for short term criminals as I fail to see how it would work very well for someone with 3 life sentences to run consecutively or on death row. Don't come back wouldn't really apply in those sorts of cases and there would be very little incentive for them to behave.

Some of these types of things work for a few people but make others even more violent. I don't think there have been prisons were you're treated very badly over here for many, many years. Unless you include detention centres for young offenders which were run along military lines but they got rid of them almost 20 years ago afaik.

I think things like broadcasting only certain political speeches, trying to degrade people by making them wear pink and only giving them the disney or weather channel to watch are way over the top as there seems to be no real rational reasoning behind it. It just feels a bit like being told as a kid you can't do something because your parent just says so which never sat well with me, or most other kids afaik.

For a person serving 3 life sentences, who will never legally see the outside of a prison, I don't want to pay to house, feed, and cloth that person. A person which will never contribute to society again. Give me a .22 gun and one bullet. that's a whole lot cheaper than housing this socital parasite.

However, given that my option will never take place, housing a prisoner in such conditions may deter others from committing crimes which will put them in the same living situation. Further, why should they be entitled to any more TV than the disney channel and the weather channel? What rights of theirs are being deprived from this? Broadcasting conservative political speaches is perfect, because they tell you to take charge of your life, the only one who will help you is you, and you better make something of yourself because you are the only one who can. Other political ideologies are all about "feeling their pain" and giving the man the fish, rather than teaching him how to fish.

Also, what is your definition of being treated badly? These parasites are being fed, housed, clothed, and given exercise. The tax payers should benefit from their free labor, and in essence it is not free. They are working for their food, clothing, housing, etc... JUST LIKE ME!! Let them build roads, clear ditches, make license plates, and contribute. they refused to contribute voluntarilly while they were free men and women, so make them contribute while they are incarcerated.

Originally Posted by mhailey

For a person serving 3 life sentences, who will never legally see the outside of a prison, I don't want to pay to house, feed, and cloth that person. A person which will never contribute to society again. Give me a .22 gun and one bullet. that's a whole lot cheaper than housing this socital parasite.

However, given that my option will never take place, housing a prisoner in such conditions may deter others from committing crimes which will put them in the same living situation. Further, why should they be entitled to any more TV than the disney channel and the weather channel? What rights of theirs are being deprived from this? Broadcasting conservative political speaches is perfect, because they tell you to take charge of your life, the only one who will help you is you, and you better make something of yourself because you are the only one who can. Other political ideologies are all about "feeling their pain" and giving the man the fish, rather than teaching him how to fish.

Also, what is your definition of being treated badly? These parasites are being fed, housed, clothed, and given exercise. The tax payers should benefit from their free labor, and in essence it is not free. They are working for their food, clothing, housing, etc... JUST LIKE ME!! Let them build roads, clear ditches, make license plates, and contribute. they refused to contribute voluntarilly while they were free men and women, so make them contribute while they are incarcerated.

Spoken like the true 1870's men that we are!

Originally Posted by JMS

Spoken like the true 1870's men that we are!

Well it is true. If they are just sitting there, then they should be contributing to society as a whole. Things can get made, and this could be competition for the dreaded Walmart which uses cheap CHEAP labour over in Asia.

Originally Posted by pilothaz

Well it is true. If they are just sitting there, then they should be contributing to society as a whole. Things can get made, and this could be competition for the dreaded Walmart which uses cheap CHEAP labour over in Asia.

I suspect that you are trying to say something but I cant quite decipher it.
Could you be a little more direct?

I have no problem with the work instead of letting them sit around as that's standard here. You don't work you don't get any money to buy shampoo, toothpaste, tobacco etc.

One of the problems I have with treatment like this is it isn't across the board in most cases. Is a MD who is found guilty of embezzling 250k going to be treated like this? I know they often get put into a low security open prison pretty quickly compared to some crack head that has been imprisoned for shoplifting $50 worth of merchandise. Which is the worst crime? Who deserves more of a break some poor b*gger that didn't have much of a chance of getting out of the poverty trap or some rich kid who never wanted for anything in his life and stole out of pure greed to fund his extravagent lifestyle?

As for the TV I just meant if you don't want to give them TV then don't but only feeding Disney weather? What's the purpose of that? Does it cost less than just giving them News or educational channels? Is it more beneficial? I just don't see the reasoning behind it apart from attempting to humiliate people.

The problem I had with the political speeches is it's indoctrination. Exactly the same thing that was denounced in the west when it was or is practiced in communist countries.

I'm in total agreement with mhailey on this one. Why should they be given the star treatment? This is jail, not rehab. Some of the conditions in jails is almost enough to make me want to go there. Free food, board, you don't have to do anything for it. All your time is consumed by sitting on your ass or working out. What part of that is a deterrent? You have to give people a reason to not want to be there.

I like the bit about being outside. It's not a cakewalk for our soldiers, who are in bdu's burning in the desert heat. These guys are our heroes and still have to endure it. Surely criminals who don't have to worry about being shot at can take it. I'm of the opinion that once you commit a crime, you give up most of your rights. You get the basics like humane treatment and fair trial, but the rest is gone. It's called punishment...