Tough on Crime...

In Maricopa County near Phoenix, a Sheriff named Joe Arpaio has taken a tough stance on crime and confinement over the past 15 years.


Sheriff Joe is becoming known around the world as the sheriff who provides a major incentive for criminals to stay out of jail. Among his rules in the jail are the following:

1. Inmates are issued pink boxer shorts, socks, and towels as standard issues. Their outer clothing is black and white striped prison suits as seen in old-fashioned movies.


2. Coffee is not permitted because it lacks nutritional value.


3. Smoking and pornographic materials are not permitted since they have no positive value.


4. Inmates must pay for their own meals, which cost less than 50 cents each.


5. Inmates are assigned to be part of a "chain gang" working in the community. (To avoid discriminating against women, there are female chain gangs as well.)


6. Since cable TV is required by federal law, Sheriff Joe has the Disney channel and the Weather channel permitted, but he blocks all other cable channels.


7. Inmates are not permitted access to weight rooms. If they want to work out, they get their exercise on the chain gangs.

Sheriff Joe's tough stance on living conditions in jail has drawn the ire of various civil rights organizations who apparently think criminals in jail deserve rest, relaxation, health club membership rights, cable TV, movies, vices such as cigarettes, coffee, and pornography, and the avoidance of physical labor. Though these opposing groups threaten Sheriff Joe and conduct constant smear campaigns, he is routinely re-elected by the people of Maricopa County in overwhelming fashion. Who wouldn't want a sheriff that's this tough on crime protecting your community and your home?

If inmates complain about the conditions in the prison, Sheriff Joe tells them two things:

First, jail isn't meant to be a luxury hotel. If you don't like the conditions in jail, don't commit crimes that will land you there!

Second, it hardly seems right for criminals in the United States to enjoy better living conditions than the heroic men and women of the military who are struggling and suffering in harm's way to protect our liberties and freedoms from terrorists.

If all prisons and jails were more like Sheriff Joe's, I suspect our recidivism rate in the United States would dramatically decrease.