Is this true?

[ozguy]

A friend sent this to me in an email and I was wondering if any US Jubbers could confirm whether or not this is actually true. If so, then I vote this man for President!!!

USA JAIL - SOME INTERESTING READING
TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO, HE IS THE MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF (ARIZONA) AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

These are some of the reasons why:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio created the "tent city jail" to save Arizona from spending tens of millions of dollars on another expensive prison complex.

He has jail meals down to 20 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

He banned smoking and pornographic magazines in the jails, and took away their weightlifting equipment and cut off all but "G" movies. He says: "They're in jail to pay a debt to society not to build muscles so they can assault innocent people when they leave."

He started chain gangs to use the inmates to do free work on county and city projects and save taxpayer's money.

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 but only allows the Disney channel and the weather channel.

When asked why the weather channel, he replied: "So these morons will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs."
He cut off coffee because it has zero nutritional value and is therefore a waste of taxpayer money. When the inmates complained, he told them, "This isn't the Ritz/Carlton. If you don't like it, don't come back."
He also bought the Newt Gingrich lecture series on US history 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 that actually tells the truth for a change would be welcome and that it might even explain why 95% of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.

With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record for June 2nd 2007), the Associated Press reported: 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 the Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing pink boxer shorts were overheard chatting in the tents, where temperatures reached 128 degrees.
"This is hell. It feels like we live in a furnace," said Ernesto Gonzales, an inmate for 2 years with 10 more to go. "It's inhumane."
Joe Arpaio, who makes his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. "Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for parole, only to go out and commit more crimes so they can come back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things many taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves."

The same day he told all the inmates who were complaining of the heat in the tents: "It's between 120 to 130 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to walk all day in the sun, wearing full battle gear and get shot at, and they have not committed any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!"

Way to go, Sheriff! If all prisons were like yours there would be a lot less crime and we would not be in the current position of running out of prison spaces.

 

[MidnightPrism]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/arpaio.asp


Snopes says most of the story is legit

 

[Sunshine]

Wow....I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

My mind can't figure it out. =/

 

[luminum]

He seems like a conservative thug to me, personally. Just look at his ideologies in general. And yes, all of this appears to be true.

But before we decide to "love" him for his tough stance on inmates in a world seemingly gone to "holistic love" and all that hippy crap, here's some info detailing some of his more unethical practices:

Joe Arpaio Controversy

Letting his agents engage in sexual acts under the guise of "prostitution stings"...what would appear to be a xenophobic ideology regarding illegal immigrants (you don't have to approve of illegal immigrants crossing the border, but you're going to let that be your public statement?)...prisoners being beaten to death by his guards...lawsuits...

Way to go, Sheriff! If all prisons were like yours there would be a lot less crime and we would not be in the current position of running out of prison spaces.

As for this, a study of his time as Sherrif showed that there was no reduction in released criminals recommitting crimes. Who would have thought that humiliation and hostility would fail to make criminals better people or solve their problems...?::shrug::

Sounds like a beat up dude.

 

[tonyboy]

Yep, it's all true.
And I say hooray for Joe.

Lot's of his foes say he is a grandstander.... but I say so what?
He said once that there is no reason his inmates couldn't stay in tent in the desert (this was due to overcrowding in the jail).... his reason was if the US soldiers deployed around the world could stay in tents in a desert inmates could surely do the same.

Good for this guy.

 

[ozguy]

Yep, it's all true. And I say hooray for Joe ..... Good for this guy.

And I wouldn't mind betting that the majority of law abiding citizens everywhere - me included - would feel the same way.

 

[sb]

I really don't understand how anyone can think this guy is good....

I thought going to prison was the punishment... not being able to see friends/family when you want, not being able to go out in public, being locked behind razorwire.... but no lets add making people feel like they are less than human whilst they are.... that's going to make them want to do right when they are released...

clothing isn't any cheaper because it is pink, it isn't any easier to keep clean... but I guess its the last colour most men would choose to wear and making people feel like they have absolutely no say in any aspect of their lives is always a good thing.

people should have to pay for the crimes they commit but most of them are going to be released.... so they should be trying to make them better people and not treat them like they are pieces of shit.

 

[scottyz]

I don't think we've ever come up with a way of making people into "better people". I'm willing to put $100 on the table to bet that rehabilitation is probably a myth that people believe in but does not really exist.

Criminals are a practical problem. Jails can be overloaded as much as we want and we can make them as cheap as we want by making prisoners grow their own food, make their own clothes, and so on. You can even force them to construct new wings to expand prisons. There never has to be a tax burden because you can force the criminals to take care of themselves.

From a practical standpoint, I don't care whether or not they EVER become better people. The fact that they are criminals already places them in the "rubbish" category. They have to prove to us they deserve to be treated like civilized people again. If we make them pay for their own incarceration, that means we can keep them locked up indefinitely. If they don't want to play by the rules, they can feel to be as terrible as they like--they can just stay in jail for life.

The rest of us can go about our lives without ever thinking about them.

No sympathy here. Don't forget they are criminals. No one is entitled to rehabilitation on the taxpayer dime. They ARE entitled to as much punishment as they bring on themselves.

 

[jsd62]

Here is the response, to the e-mail that's been going around, from my cousin, who lives in Maricopa County.



" Not by me, and never will he get my vote. Everything in your email is correct. But the man does it only for his own ego. Crime in maricopa county has not gone down one bit. So there is no deterrent. And all the money he claims to save taxpayers....where is it? In a nutshell....He's an asshole just cause he gets press about it, and his face is on the news again...did you know that he brags to the press that it costs more to feed the dogs that the prisoners are taking care of than it costs to feed the inmates. Now don't get me wrong. I don't believe criminals should be treated great, or even good, but to treat them shitty and then go to the press about it is another. So if you like the man so much, you move out here and vote for him yourself. I could go on and on. "

 

[star-warrior]

That could not happen in the UK now, especially since we're signed up to that Human Rights thingamajig.

 

[Spellbound]

It seems like he gets off treating the prisoners like shit.

 

[Pushyourluck]

I absolutely agree with his policies. Jail is paid for by tax payers. Why should our hard earned money go to keep jailbirds in porno mags and cable t.v? Jail is a punishment and should be there as a deterrent, not a place to go and take "time out"
watching t.v and lifting weights. If the prisoners don't like it, tough shit. Don't go back inside.

 

[star-warrior]

It would be nice to send all the people in prison to Iraqi to help fight the war.

No, that'd be a bad idea. Abu Ghraib was bad, even with "regular" soldiers. I doubt undisciplined hormone raging thugs with an attitude will be in the best interests of either the locals, or the US image.

 

[Apollo]

I really don't understand how anyone can think this guy is good....

I thought going to prison was the punishment... not being able to see friends/family when you want, not being able to go out in public, being locked behind razorwire.... but no lets add making people feel like they are less than human whilst they are.... that's going to make them want to do right when they are released...

clothing isn't any cheaper because it is pink, it isn't any easier to keep clean... but I guess its the last colour most men would choose to wear and making people feel like they have absolutely no say in any aspect of their lives is always a good thing.

people should have to pay for the crimes they commit but most of them are going to be released.... so they should be trying to make them better people and not treat them like they are pieces of shit.

But regular jails don't do that. They pamper the inmates and almost let them have free reign besides the hours locked in their cells.

most criminals recommit crimes because it is a easy life in a jail, compared to the real world and having to find a job, and support yourself. for some people, jail is a oasis.

 

[Apollo]

I don't think we've ever come up with a way of making people into "better people". I'm willing to put $100 on the table to bet that rehabilitation is probably a myth that people believe in but does not really exist.

Criminals are a practical problem. Jails can be overloaded as much as we want and we can make them as cheap as we want by making prisoners grow their own food, make their own clothes, and so on. You can even force them to construct new wings to expand prisons. There never has to be a tax burden because you can force the criminals to take care of themselves.

From a practical standpoint, I don't care whether or not they EVER become better people. The fact that they are criminals already places them in the "rubbish" category. They have to prove to us they deserve to be treated like civilized people again. If we make them pay for their own incarceration, that means we can keep them locked up indefinitely. If they don't want to play by the rules, they can feel to be as terrible as they like--they can just stay in jail for life.

The rest of us can go about our lives without ever thinking about them.

No sympathy here. Don't forget they are criminals. No one is entitled to rehabilitation on the taxpayer dime. They ARE entitled to as much punishment as they bring on themselves.

and your generalizing on a bunch of people who probably made a bad choice in their life. it's people like you thats the problem with society, when you have no compassion to try and help these people actually do something good with their lives.

if more people like you existed, you would probably be killed because you "don't care" if they become better people. if they went to jail, THEY MUST BE BAD. nevermind that a man was faslely accused of a crime for 25 years before DNA cleared it up.

 

[LaloGS]

The OP is true, but Sheriff Joe doesn't respect human rights. He´s currently embroiled in disputes with various towns within his jurisdiction which have high populations of Hispanics for targeting them and profiling and arresting Hispanics for minor traffic violations, like cracked windshields, and having a tail light burned out. He then has the arrested persons checked out to see if they are illegals. If so, they are turned over to ICE for deportation. Some of these people were born in Arizona of illegal parents who came to work the cotton fields and never went home.
As someone above said, Joe Arpiao is a conservative thug, who won't even take direction from the governor of the state.
Besides, his tent prisons are inhuman when it reaches 115º in the shade. This man is not a hero unless you believe what Hitler did to the Jews, Gypsies, and gays, was alright.

 

[DeafFoxDemon]

damn, that man is mean!! but i agree with what he is doing.. i remember watching cnn and he said he want paris hilton in his jail to teach her a lesson.

 

[Shepherd 2]

OZGUY

I for one am terribly embarassed. I am sure it is probably true.
It makes us look as stupid as we sometimes are in this country. To be in jail is one thing, to be mentally abused by the overseers is quite another. Perhaps we soulc just chain people to the ground and let the ants feed on them.

Shep+

 

[racer2438]

I thinks it's good, and if it saves tax payer money even better.

If your in jail, there is a reason for it. So do your time and dont do it again or you know where you are going.

We spend millions of tax payer money on making them have all this fun in jail/prison. only to get out and do it again or worse.

In my town they are building a new jail for some 23million dollars. And of they rasied sales tax, and property tax.

we need more tent cities.

 

[luminum]

I say instead of this, we send the inmates to Hawaii, so they can enjoy themselves on the beautiful beaches they have there.

Should it come to any surprise, then, that you're such a fan of Deathnote?

Unlike Mikami Teru's philosophy, life is not made up of only good and evil. People commite crimes for a plethora of reasons, many of which fall into shades of grey. Unless you know every motivation for each individual's crime, then it's not really fair to write them off as having just "broken the law." It's not always easy or possible to get by in life without doing something "illegally."

How many gay guys got sent to prison for sodomy when sodomy was still illegal? Do they need to demonstrate that they deserve to be treated like civilized individuals? Does a person who goes to jail for unintended vehicular manslaughter need to prove that he deserves to be treated like a civilized individual? Certainly not all criminals in the prison system fall into such scenarios, but you'd be surprised how many do. Before you write off people, it would be wise to consider the fact that to err is human, even if that means by established "moral" guidelines. Neither the life nor unfortunately, the law, are fair as we'd like to believe they are.