Let’s keep in mind that most of the inmates are pre-trial detainees who have not been found guilty of a crime.
Also, you know all that money he’s saving by providing meals that cost 20 cents? Maybe all the savings are being used to fund court-ordered damages to former inmates: through 2009, there were $43 million in judgments against the sheriffs office.
“Joe Arpaio: he makes criminals into millionaires!”
Not everyone in the jail has been found guilty, necessarily. Some are being help pending trial.
Also, did she make any mention of the inmates that have been killed in captivity, or anything about the millions this pompous dick is costing the county in wrongful death and other lawsuits?
And he has not been elected fourteen times.
ETA: Ravenman was mere seconds ahead of me!
I’m wasn’t trying to state that punishment is the best deterrent, and yes I have heard of such statistics that education and rehabilitation are very helpful in lowering the number of repeat offenders. What I was trying to say is that this particular prison’s punishment techniques aren’t so harsh, and at least the prison is efficient, but other prisons are much worse, as I said before. Also, it doesn’t just take education and rehabilitation, it takes the perfect balance of rehabilitation and punishment especially for prisons located in highly gang populated regions.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to be the case he reduces recidivism. Between that and the lawsuits for injuries/death suffered by his inmates, he might be spending way more tax money for the same results as before.
But it is hard to measure. Arpaio himself commissioned a study back in '98 (which is, to be fair, a while ago) to study it, and it showed his policies had no effect (check pg 41) vs his predecessor. Of course, Arpaio has repudiated the results of the study he commissioned and apparently doesn’t know the actual current rate (link).
The total number of inmates is also increasing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything either, since the population of Maricopa county has exploded over the last 20 years.
The color of the underwear was immaterial. The fact that it’s part of his ongoing efforts to unnecessarily demean inmates without producing any unambiguously measurable results at reducing recidivism or the crime rate and at ever increasing taxpayer expense IS material.
Again, NOT a prison. A JAIL. The inmates are (1) awaiting trial, (2) awaiting transfer to a prison, or (3) serving sentences for misdemeanors.
Not to mention his attention-getting, and doubtless expensive stunts like his ‘investigation’ into Obama’s birth certificate.
Hard to say, no doubt Arpaio and his defenders have some statistics to cherry-pick somewhere that support the idea that his methods are effective. It’s doubtful, though. This link is not entirely fair (fairness in the pit?!?), but it’s certainly dramatic. It shows rates of violent crime in Arizona over the period of 2002 to 2010. All of Arizona’s major cities experienced a drop in major crimes over that period, as did the state as a whole. However, in Sheriff Joe’s part of Maricopa County, violent crimes are up 58%. It’s slightly unfair in that there are no apples to apples comparisons between the type of outlying unincorporated area that he covers and other similar areas in the state (if there even are any). But it’s hard to imagine there being any evidence here that he has helped. And he’s a sadistic bastard anyway, with fucked up priorities as a sheriff and as a human being – I’ve seen mention of some tens of thousands of raped and assaults going uninvestigated, for instance.
Provided the prisoners have no health problems exacerbated by heat, access to plenty of water and adequate shade then I have no objection to a tent city jail in Arizona. Nor do I particularly care about inmates being forced to wear pink underwear. It’s the civil rights violations (bad food, targeting brown people, etc., etc.) that I’m worried about.
I don’t give a rat’s ass about the pink.
Prisoners? Well, maybe he’s a little bit harsh.
But the fact that he’s a racist bastard that wipes his ass with his oath to the Constitution every day-** THAT **I got a problem with.
:smack: Apologies; I completely glazed over the part that this is about a jail, as opposed to a prison.
That’s cruel and unusual punishment right there.
Yabbut if he only plays it at inmates who are awaiting trial, it doesn’t count as “punishment,” just cruel and unusual “treatment.”
And the Eighth Amendment don’t say nuttin’ about cruel and unusual “treatment.”
Maybe I better go check on that, now that I bring it up.
Nope, I’m good. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Well, to be fair, that study comprised a study of prisoners released between twenty-three and seventeen years ago. I don’t know how relevant it is considering the changes he’s made since then, which some would consider having made things even worse but others would consider having made things better and more effective.
And not only has the population exploded, but so have population segments in which drug and gang activity are more prevalent.
Oh, I don’t know. Embarrassing and demeaning people is a time honored way of trying to get people to change their thinking and behavior. Look at the way the political parties portray each others’ supporters. 
That, if true, would be the sorriest, silliest, lamest cost-saving measure ever.
Apparently not. At best, he’s not doing actively worse at his job than average. He still can’t produce numbers showing he’s reducing recidivism or the crime rate. And Normal Phase’s link indicates he might actually be doing a worse job than average. The implications that his department has outright ignored several sexual assault cases is troubling, at best, and an outright breach of law and his constituent’s trust at worst.
And I know it’s a joke, but has any political party’s portrayal of their political opponents actually changed the way those opponents thought? If the last general election was any guide, it merely made everybody further entrench.
So, the good citizens of Maricopa county are paying through the nose for a sheriff whose measures don’t appear to do much good and may actually be exacerbating exactly the situation he’s claiming to fix. And he’s an asshole to boot.
What’s wrong with it?
Oh please. I’ve got a friend that did the exact same thing - and she got nothing worse for her DUI than a fine and driving school.
I’ve posted two Pit Threads. There is no flood of threads from me.
To start with, even being concerned at all over the county losing the cost of one pair of underwear when an inmate is released.
The Home of the Never Ending Joe Paterno/Sandusky thread isn’t ALREADY stupid?
For fuck’s sake, y’all have some high standards for stupidity around here.
My understanding was that Joe doesn’t actually save the state any money by cheaping out on the meals; he gets a fixed amount of money to provide food to the detainees and he (that’s right–he, personally) gets to keep any difference between the cost of the food and the fees paid him.
So the $0.20 meals aren’t cost-savings, they’re graft.
Also, he gets to keep that money even if the state loses the resulting lawsuit. So Joe has socialized his risk! He’s a socialist!