The Real "Tent City" run by Sheriff Joe Arpaio

I received this in an email, so there's no link I can provide. I watched a program on TV about Joe before... I'll see if I can find anything on that.

To those of you not familiar with Joe Arpaio, he is the Maricopa Arizona County Sheriff. 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, and 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 only let in 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.

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' lecture series on videotape 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.

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 = years. "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 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 parole, 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.

Sheriff Joe was just reelected Sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona.


I say way to go there Joe, way to go... Maybe some other Sheriffs could learn something from this guy.



[edit on 14-7-2005 by elevatedone]

Yeah, this is a really great idea and I'm glad to hear that it really is working out so well. Good to know he was reeelected too, so no one can come in and screw it up!

He's been discussed on this board before and I think he's a criminal himself and should end up in one of his jails. People have recieved shocks to the testicles, had broken bones and have even died in his custody.

Please see my posts and links in the thread below, especialy the part where his boys set fire to a home and chased a dog back into the burning building as it tried to flee from the flames:
NEWS: Arizona Sheriff Deputies Use Pink Handcuffs

He may be many things Ace, but he knows how to run a jain. THe food service is the best part. Discovery (I think) did a show on it and you get bolonga on white bread, milk, and an apple like 3X a day. Yuck!!!!!You have to work to get it down to 40 cents a day

Originally posted by FredTyou get bolonga on white bread,

With rocks in the sandwich according to some accounts.


[edit on 14-7-2005 by AceOfBase]

Liberals like Ace don’t understand that going to jail should be a BAD thing, you know, to actually DETER crime.

We should shower our criminals with love and compassion to rehabilitate them. Maybe give the cute little puppies and cotton candy.

This man is a genius. Why? Make jail a terrible thing, people wont want to go there. The only way to guarantee you don’t go, is to not break the law. Pretty simply huh

reading the comments to this article I am absolutelly staggered... If this was happening in another country *cough CHINA cough IRAN cough cough* the american public would be up in arms. Yet for some reason it's ok when it happens to our "criminals" and I use the term looselly. I can only hope some of the more vehement of this criminal thugs supporters have a chance some day to experience the tender mercies of his concentration camp, whoops I mean tent jail. Speaking as someone who had the interminably joyful experience of spending a day there I can tell you that seeing people revel in the pure torture that is being done to the inmates there sickens me on a profound level and many of you I have lost a great amout of respect for.

All of this is setting aside the fact that the man himself is a jack booted thug known to extort false confessions, use entrapment, and depending on who you ask take bribes and allow what we supposedly civilized westerners would call torture to go on. But please feel free to continue supporting this inhumane thug and hopefully one of his friends will come into power in a district near you.

Originally posted by Sugarlump
But please feel free to continue supporting this inhumane thug and hopefully one of his friends will come into power in a district near you.

I would certainly hope someone like him would come here! I don't break the law, so what am I to worry about? This man runs a prison like it should be run; Hell on Earth, not the Ritz with bars in the windows.

So it's ok that he has managed to get meal cost so low by feeding the prisoners rotten and rancid meat and moldy bread, coupled with rotten fruit? Or that the so called dinners have rotten barelly edible food that is swarmed by bugs and the squallor of the situation? Or that the amount of oversight makes it easy for prisoners to victimize each other?
I agree whole heartedly that jail should not be fun but I firmly disagree that this thug's inhumane treatment of prisoners in his care is anything but something to be loathed.

The terrorists in Guantanamo are being treated better than these people, which is something I don't agree with...maybe they should send the bologna sandwiches to Cuba and get some orange-glazed chicken up to Arizona.

I live in Maricopa County, and have lived here before Arpaio was elected Sheriff.

Here're a couple of things to remember:

Under Arpaio's leadership, over six million dollars was paid out to settle lawsuits of the relatives of people who were killed by Arpaio's jailers, usually under questioning. Most of these people were killed by suffocation or blunt trauma; or by heart attacks while being "questioned".

Arpaio has nothing to do with the prisons in Arizona; he only runs the Maricopa County Jail. In case you have forgotten, jail is where they put people awaiting trial who were denied bail or couldn't afford it. Here in Arizona, ther is a presupposition of innocence until proven guilty; many of these people, including the ones Arpaio's jailers killed, are de jure if not de facto innocent.

I certainly do not believe in coddling prisoners, but Arpaio's jails are more representative of Mexico or Turkey than the United States of America.

As I said, I live here. Interestingly enough, Sugarlump, the only other one speaking out against Arpaio, is a local boy, too. I don't think either of us could be considered "liberals" by any stretch! Maybe dgtempe, who also lives in Maricopa County, might weigh in on this subject.

Do you think there might be something the locals know that you outsiders don't?

[edit on 14-7-2005 by Off_The_Street]

Here! Here! Off_the_street and Sugarlump!! Let's look at what the locals have to say. Ok, you say this is the county jail for people awaiting trail. So, is it likely to really affect crime? Is it a deterant? I would guess not much of one, but again, locals, what do you say?

No, there are people there serving time...I disagree with you. I just watched a show on the History Channel or Discovery that showed him talking with inmates in a small room that these 4 or 5 guys were hanging out in....He asked one man "How much time you got left" and the man replied "One Year Mr Joe"....and the other guy answered "I got 44 more days Mr. Joe".

So yes, this is a jail...a LAW ENFORCEMENT CENTER..a LEC...this is where they take you when you break the law in a city or county...with the exception of violent crimes....this is where your Battery/DUI/Assault/Non-Pay of Child Support/etc. crimes are served for your area.

And I love it...why coddle a criminal.....Liberals would rather bitch about the treatment of a criminal rather than bitch about that criminals treatment of a victim.

[edit on 14-7-2005 by Sport Kensington]

I live in Maricopa county and would be more in favor of Joe if he only put CONVICTED CRIMINALS in tent city instead of those awaiting trial. I think Joe is a publicity hog though and some of his lieutenants were convicted of stealing stuff that was supposed to be put up for auction. IMHO he runs a very corrupt crew.

As far as it being a deterrent I would say yes and no. More like a very strong inducement not to get caught. Wages in Arizona are depressed because of massive illegal immigration and for many crime is the only way to pay the bills. I am not saying I condone crime in any sense moreof just stating a fact to fill in the background. As for myself I was motivated by the stunning corruption I saw in the entire justice system in the county to move. Mostly it is just a nightmare horror story, and one more example of how little america cares for it's poor and disaffected to the people that are guests of mister arpallo.

I apreciate off the street's support in helping me correct people's perceptions of what is going on with the situation. However I must say I am still shocked and very disappointed in the supposedly enlightened members of Ats response to the thread.

Originally posted by Sport Kensington
So yes, this is a jail...a LAW ENFORCEMENT CENTER..a LEC...this is where they take you when you break the law in a city or county...with the exception of violent crimes....this is where your Battery/DUI/Assault/Non-Pay of Child Support/etc. crimes are served for your area.

And I love it...why coddle a criminal.....Liberals would rather bitch about the treatment of a criminal rather than bitch about that criminals treatment of a victim.

So these are non-violent persons being subjected to these conditions?
That's even worse if that's true.

[edit on 14-7-2005 by AceOfBase]

Originally posted by AceOfBase
So these are non-violent persons being subjected to these conditions?
That's even worse if that's true.

As I understand it, it's a jail not a prison, so these are people awaiting trial and those sentenced to a year or less of jail usually for misdemeanors, not felonies.

Yes it's a county jail, not a prison. People awaiting trial end up here and minor offenders are who end up here, not felons.

Wow, I remember hearing about all this some time ago and being just as mind blown back then. It's like one county was allowed to revert 100 years in time. Back to a time when civil liberties existed "technically" but were not really being enforced. A time before the ACLU. I'm sure they must have protested this guy's little camp at least once. Obviously to no avail.

If these conditions are fairly unique in the U.S. then shouldn't this be a clear case of "unussual punishment"?

If these conditions were standard on all US prison and Jail I be our prison population would be at least half of what it is today, Why?
Let me post you a story you can chew on, enjoy.

Ga. Man, Owing Debts, Shot Postal Worker

SNELLVILLE, Ga. - Earl Lazenby had delivered mail for years to the aging brown home with overgrown plants in the yard and a National Rifle Association sticker on the front door. The home's owner was always friendly, sometimes chatting with Lazenby at the grocery store in this Atlanta suburb.

But what Lazenby didn't know was that William Crutchfield was deep in debt and looking for a way out. Authorities say Crutchfield apparently watched with envy as Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph was headed to prison for life and aspired to the same fate — allowing him to live off the government while behind bars.
So he allegedly hatched a twisted plan: Kill a federal employee.
Two weeks ago, Crutchfield walked down his driveway carrying a .380-caliber pistol and greeted his mail carrier at the curb. He then opened fire on Lazenby, drove to the police station in his Chevrolet Cavalier and told the secretary, "I just shot the letter carrier”

Yahoo AP

[edit on 14-7-2005 by WestPoint23]