Fuck Sheriff Joe: Fecal Matter Hits The Ventilator Edition

AngelHedgie

So, it seems that Everyone's Favorite Sheriff and his department are in a pickle as of late.

First, we have news that a six month probe has found...discrepancies in the jail fund totaling about $100M over the past eight years. Remember, one of Joe's claims to fame is how he runs his jails more efficiently. This sort of blows that out of the water.

And then, the other shoe dropped.

That shoe being the report of an investigation into three of Sheriff Joe's top men. And from the sounds of things, they will be getting the boot. Of note is that these three ran Joe's little utterly illegal slush fund which he used to fund his slurs against Dan Saban in 2008 (after a bit of GOP-assisted laundering, of course.) And, of course, if Joe decides to give everyone the middle finger and retain these assholes, it looks like the department could end up in open revolt.

So, it looks like things are going to get ugly for Everyone's Favorite Sheriff. And with luck, he won't be sheriff for much longer.

TNTrooper

So I get to watch rabid Tea Baggers find out that the dirty cops that committed almost $100M in fraud was their beloved Sheriff Joe? Their heads are going to explode Scanners style over this.

It's like Christmas.

override367

No they won't, these people believe a sky lord wants them to destroy the poor/mexicans and that they are displaced millionaires

Reality does not penetrate that veil

Chaos Punk

I can't comment on any of the discrepancies or fraud or anything like that.. but, personally, I think Joe Arpio is a living legend... and I don't mean that I support his way of criminal punishment or code of ethics, etc, etc.

The guy is just insane to the point of hilarity.... I seen him in a documentary about the war on drugs...and I just couldn't believe some of the things he said. "Ah you'll have doctors takin' a little puff before they open ya up", "yeah yeah people's right to choose and use.. that's crap... it's our job to protect people..drugs are not good for you, knock it off!". Hahaha. I wish I could say he should just be a comedian so countless people aren't humiliated by his actual procedures at tent city, but I think that would be a lack of authenticity that would devalue the comedic value for me. I know his racism and sexism and xenophobia isn't funny, but just the whole spectacle is funny to me, I guess since I'm not gettin' screwed by him. But seriously, watch some of his videos on youtube, it's unreal.

Ego

Haha. Don't suppose you recall the name of the documentary?

override367 wrote:

No they won't

Yeah, I don't think it'll induce too much cognitive dissonance for the folks supporting him to say 'he had to break the law to enforce the laws that the federal government won't!'

Chaos Punk

Ego wrote: »

Haha. Don't suppose you recall the name of the documentary?

override367 wrote:

No they won't

Yeah, I don't think it'll induce too much cognitive dissonance for the folks supporting him to say 'he had to break the law to enforce the laws that the federal government won't!'

Not sure what it was called... saw it years ago on one of those hangover days when we were all layin around in the living room watching movies. It wasn't history channel quality or anything... I bet I can find the clip on youtube. He wanted to stop random people on the highway and search them for drugs.

Ego

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2008/05/arpaio_lends_support_to_drug_c.php

That one maybe? I'll have to hunt it up somewhere, always can use a good laugh.

enlightenedbum

You know when I read this title Hedgie, I figured he was literally putting shit in the ventilator to torture inmates.

Henroid

"OBAMA DID IT!" unfortunately is going to be the conspiracy call, as usual.

I've had it with this asshole sheriff though.

Henroid

enlightenedbum wrote: »

You know when I read this title Hedgie, I figured he was literally putting shit in the ventilator to torture inmates.

Oh god, I was thinking the same thing having my fingers crossed for it to not be the case.

thatassemblyguy

Ego wrote: »

Haha. Don't suppose you recall the name of the documentary?

override367 wrote:

No they won't

Yeah, I don't think it'll induce too much cognitive dissonance for the folks supporting him to say 'he had to break the law to enforce the laws that the federal government won't!'

100% Agreed.

There are some rough studies into these personality types. Basically, people that are authoritarian 'followers' tend to compartmentalize their thoughts so well that they could support completely hypocritical view points, if they were told to do so by someone they view as a leader.

"The Authoritarian Personality" was written in the 1950s to study the psychology of the actors in the Holocaust[1]. The desire was to determine factors that contribute to a persons fascist, or anti-semitic tendancies. The studies in the book, however, aren't very rigorous, so it did draw a lot of criticism at the time.

This study, however, was the basis for Bob Altemeyer's research in the 1980s on the subject which was more rigorous, and provided the more refined "RWA" scale. It's Bob's research that unlocked a lot of understanding about how people with an authoritarian personality tick.

[1]Adorno, T. W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D. J., & Sanford, R. N. (1950). The Authoritarian Personality. New York: Harper and Row.

Also, despite how people may feel about the journalism in the Phoenix New Times, they've carried articles in the past 10 or so years about abuse of power by Joe Arpaio, et al. Joe Arpaio is basically a wanna-be mobster and is using the sheriff's office as a means to that end.

This is in spoiler tags because it doesn't add much to the rational discussion of the topic but, seriously, fuck Joe Arpaio and the other rat bastard municipal cops that engage in D.W.Bs' (Driving While Brown).

Chaos Punk

Ego wrote: »

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2008/05/arpaio_lends_support_to_drug_c.php

That one maybe? I'll have to hunt it up somewhere, always can use a good laugh.

Couldn't find the documentary, but I found him on the p&t show about the drug war... it's pretty close... hilarious


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK_ZDzzB4H0

Arpaio's clip

1:20 - 2:21

CaptainNemo

I hope the bastard burns. I really do. Few people fill me with such anger and loathing as Joe Arpaio.

SyphonBlue

Just another example of Obama using his liberal thugs to bring down an honest man.

Rhesus Positive

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Just another example of Obama using his liberal thugs to bring down an honest man.

Yeah - if those prisons were still running even without the $100m that's 'gone missing', that proves that they're efficient!

Oh when will society stop oppressing rich white men in positions of power?

JustinSane07

There's a guy in my WoW guild that lives in Arizona who vehemently defended Sherriff Joe to me. I just...I couldn't believe that a normally rational thinking person sits there and says "Yeah! He's right!" I mean, this guy defended Tent City saying that no one's ever died there and that the conditions are better than any prison in America.

I just...what?

Seol

What? I thought the whole appeal of Tent City (to the sort of people Arpaio appeals to) was that it didn't have great conditions, and those criminals were getting the punishment they were due?

That's... just being factually wrong.

Raynaga

Unless I'm missing something in those articles, the '1,000 page scathing report' that is going to damn Arpaio's guys was commissioned, created, and then was with great fanfare....

Given to Arpaio. Who is now refusing to let the county board read it. Seriously?

After the investigation produced a 1,000-page report and thousands of pages of supporting documents, Wilcox was among county officials who on Wednesday called for Arpaio to share the content of the report with the Board of Supervisors, the county's five-member governing board.

As of February, Maricopa County had been billed $46,000 for investigative costs by Pinal County.

"We're paying for it, and we are the fiscal agents for the county, and so we should be allowed to read it now," Wilcox said. "There may be criminal actions, and if there are, that could mean ramifications for the county - lawsuits, criminal charges, who knows? And since we are the ones who may have to settle those things, we should be made aware as soon as possible. The more information we have, the better."

joshofalltrades

Is Ned Stark one of these people

Couscous

From what I remember reading, he can withhold the report while he is making an appeal or whatever.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/us/15arpaio.html

MESA, Ariz. — It is not uncommon for law enforcement agencies to have helicopters and planes to patrol from above, but Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, has created what he calls his own air force: a collection of 30 private planes that his “air posse” uses to track illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.

In what Mr. Arpaio is calling Operation Desert Sky, private pilots have begun flying over central Arizona to act as spotters for Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department deputies. The overhead surveillance has not yet led to any arrests, two weeks after it began, but Mr. Arpaio said it would have a deterrent effect.

In short, Sheriff Joe — as he is widely known — is still at it.

The criticism was just as fierce last month when Mr. Arpaio allowed the actor Steven Seagal to ride in an armored vehicle to execute a search warrant in a major raid on a suspected cockfighting operation.

“I’ve never seen a bigger spectacle,” said Robert J. Campos, the lawyer for the accused man, Jesus Llovera. “You had Steven Seagal on a tank and a SWAT team swarming a home, but the reality is they arrested an unarmed man.”

Mr. Arpaio said Mr. Seagal was one of his many volunteer posse members who help out deputies. But Mr. Campos said the raid was filmed as part of Mr. Seagal’s reality television show, “Lawman,” on the A&E Network.

Larry Dever, the sheriff of Cochise County, on the Mexican border, recently drew the ire of Michael J. Fisher, chief of the federal Border Patrol, when he claimed that the patrol’s agents were intentionally not arresting some illegal immigrants to keep apprehension numbers down. “Completely, 100 percent false,” Mr. Fisher responded in a letter.

And Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County has declared his county to be ground zero when it comes to smuggling. In early February, he predicted that his deputies would engage in a major shootout with drug cartel members in a month or two. His remarks prompted three border mayors to write a letter telling him to stop stretching the truth and “creating panic.”

Mr. Arpaio asked Mr. Babeu to investigate allegations that three of Mr. Arpaio’s aides, including his chief deputy, David Hendershott, had engaged in misconduct on the job. Mr. Babeu delivered the results to Mr. Arpaio this week, although they have not yet been made public.

JustinSane07

Wait wait.

Arpaio commissioned this report himself?

mythago

Seol wrote: »

What? I thought the whole appeal of Tent City (to the sort of people Arpaio appeals to) was that it didn't have great conditions, and those criminals were getting the punishment they were due?

That's... just being factually wrong.

Yes, but nobody actually DIED there, see, so what's the problem?

Logic is useless on people like this. Their core belief is "Sheriff Joe is a macho dude who kicks the asses of illegal brown people," and therefore all facts and arguments in conflict with this core belief must be rejected. To steal a saying from another scumbag political figure, he's going to stay in office unless he gets caught in bed with a live boy or a dead girl, and I'm not even sure about the dead girl.

Dark_Side

JustinSane07 wrote: »

Wait wait.

Arpaio commissioned this report himself?

Hard to tell, it appears that after a scathing memo surfaced, they commissioned an internal investigation on the allegations, which Joe handed off to a known ally, who hired a private investigator. Joe now has the report, but is waiting to hand it off until the accused can exercise their full rights as public employees.

Which is kind of funny, he openly raided a public building over server passwords, so I'm surprised he suddenly cares about the rights of public employees. I suspect they're sandbagging to come up with a plan of attack to deal with whatever the report may or may not say. He's not gonna win another election anyway, so perhaps the rats are turning on each other now?

Gaddez

If sheriff joe actually loses the next election to someone who actually intends to restore the integrity of the office, then he'd better hope and pray that he can get on board a plane to a country without extradition laws, because I'm sure that his successor will want to erradicate any trace of his taint.

21stCentury

mythago wrote: »

Seol wrote: »

What? I thought the whole appeal of Tent City (to the sort of people Arpaio appeals to) was that it didn't have great conditions, and those criminals were getting the punishment they were due?

That's... just being factually wrong.

Yes, but nobody actually DIED there, see, so what's the problem?

Didn't someone die of heatstroke there? I'm pretty sure a mentally challenged guy died in his custody once. They tied him on some kind of chair and it strangled him... And I don't think that was the only casualty of Joe... Didn't he order his men to shoot a pet dog at a house he destroyed on suspicions of drug trafficking (false suspicions, I might add)? I might be mixing two cases from two different places there...

Styrofoam Sammich

Didn't someone die of heatstroke there? I'm pretty sure a mentally challenged guy died in his custody once. They tied him on some kind of chair and it strangled him...

You many be thinking of Spokane Washington here.

Tastyfish

Wiki wrote:

Charles Agster
In August 2001, Charles Agster, a 33-year-old mentally handicapped man, died in the county jail three days after being forced by sheriff's officers into a restraint chair used for controlling combative arrestees. Agster's parents had been taking him to a psychiatric hospital because he was exhibiting paranoia, then called police when he refused to leave a convenience store where they had stopped enroute. Officers took Agster to the Madison Street jail, placed a "spit hood" over his face and strapped him to the chair, where he had an apparent seizure and lost consciousness. He was declared brain dead three days later. A medical examiner later concluded that Agster died of complications of methamphetamine intoxication. In a subsequent lawsuit, an attorney for the sheriff's office described the amount of methamphetamine in Agster's system as 17 times the known lethal dose. The lawsuit resulted in a $9 million jury verdict against the county, the sheriff's office, and Correctional Health Services.[68]

Scott Norberg
One major controversy includes the 1996 death of inmate Scott Norberg, a former Brigham Young University football wide receiver, who died while in custody of the Sheriff's office.[69] Norberg was arrested for assaulting a police officer in Mesa, Arizona, after neighbors in a residential area had reported a delirious man walking in their neighborhood.[70] Arpaio's office repeatedly claimed Norberg was also high on methamphetamine, but a blood toxicology performed post-mortem was inconclusive. According to a toxological report, Norberg did have methamphetamine in his urine, though "there would be no direct effect caused by the methamphetamine on Norberg's behavior at the time of the incident".[71] During his internment, evidence suggests detention officers shocked Norberg several times with a stun-gun. According to an investigation by Amnesty International, Norberg was already handcuffed and face down when officers dragged him from his cell and placed him in a restraint chair with a towel covering his face. After Norberg's corpse was discovered, detention officers accused Norberg of attacking them as they were trying to restrain him. The cause of his death, according to the Maricopa County medical examiner, was due to "positional asphyxia". Sheriff Arpaio investigated and subsequently cleared detention officers of any criminal wrongdoing.[72][dead link]
Norberg’s parents filed a lawsuit against Arpaio and his office. The lawsuit was settled for $8.25 million (USD).[73]

Richard Post
Richard Post was a paraplegic inmate arrested in 1996 for possession of marijuana and criminal trespass. Post was placed in a restraint chair by guards and his neck was broken in the process. The event, caught on video, shows guards smiling and laughing while Post is being injured. Because of his injuries, Post has lost much of the use of his arms.[74] Post settled his claims against the Sheriff's office for $800,000.[75]

Brian Crenshaw
Brian Crenshaw was a legally blind and mentally disabled inmate who suffered fatal injuries while being held in Maricopa County Jail for shoplifting. The injuries that led to his death were initially blamed on a fall from his bunk but were later discovered to have been the result of a brutal beating by jail guards on March 7, 2003.[citation needed] A lawsuit filed in the Maricopa County Superior Court of Arizona by the lawyer for Crenshaw's family stated:
An external examination report of the Maricopa County Medical Examiners Office concluded that Brian's death was caused by "complications of blunt force trauma due to a fall." This conclusion was reached largely on the [Maricopa County Sheriffs Office]'s relation of their "history" of Brian's injuries to the Medical Examiner's Office; a history that included the MCSO's implausible story that all of Brian's injuries were caused by a fall from his cell bed. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner conducted no autopsy; nor was the Maricopa County Medical Examiner informed by MCSO or [the Correctional Health Services] about Brian's beating on March 7, 2003 and/or related events. An independent autopsy report later narrowed the cause of Brian's death to peritonitis and sepsis secondary to the duodenal perforation. A fall from Brian's 4-foot, 2 inch bunk could not have simultaneously caused a broken neck, broken toes, and a duodenal perforation.[76]
The lawsuit against Arpaio and his office resulted in an award of $2 million.[77][dead link] As in the Scott Norberg case, it was alleged that Arpaio's office destroyed evidence in the case. In the Crenshaw case, the attorney who represented the case before a jury alleged digital video evidence was destroyed.[78]

Four deaths/serious injuries by the look of it. Plus the dog that got thrown back into the building they had set on fire.

Dark_Side

The guy also openly admitted in court that they allowed loose chunks of rebar in the tent city so that the prisoners would beat each other with them.

Preacher

And remember he runs the jail, not the prison. You go to jail awaiting trial. No one in his jails have been convicted of anything. So its even more abhorent.

Couscous

Preacher wrote: »

And remember he runs the jail, not the prison. You go to jail awaiting trial. No one in his jails have been convicted of anything. So its even more abhorent.

Jails usually also house short term prisoners.

Styrofoam Sammich

Couscous wrote: »

Preacher wrote: »

And remember he runs the jail, not the prison. You go to jail awaiting trial. No one in his jails have been convicted of anything. So its even more abhorent.

Jails usually also house short term prisoners.

If you're sentenced for a misdemeanor or are serving less than 1 year you typically serve your time in a jail.

21stCentury

Styrofoam Sammich wrote: »

Couscous wrote: »

Preacher wrote: »

And remember he runs the jail, not the prison. You go to jail awaiting trial. No one in his jails have been convicted of anything. So its even more abhorent.

Jails usually also house short term prisoners.

If you're sentenced for a misdemeanor or are serving less than 1 year you typically serve your time in a jail.

It still houses people who are, in the eyes of the law, still considered innocent.

Preacher

21stCentury wrote: »

Styrofoam Sammich wrote: »

Couscous wrote: »

Preacher wrote: »

And remember he runs the jail, not the prison. You go to jail awaiting trial. No one in his jails have been convicted of anything. So its even more abhorent.

Jails usually also house short term prisoners.

If you're sentenced for a misdemeanor or are serving less than 1 year you typically serve your time in a jail.

It still houses people who are, in the eyes of the law, still considered innocent.

Yeah thats the primary focus of a jail is temporary stay while you await trial. On top of that punishing misdemeanor criminals or anyone serving less than a year to the degree that Tent city does is unconstitutional (punishing anyone to the extent that tent city does is cruel and fucking unusual I don't care if its jeffrey dahmer or someone there on a dui).

Henroid

Tastyfish wrote: »

Wiki wrote:

Charles Agster
In August 2001, Charles Agster, a 33-year-old mentally handicapped man, died in the county jail three days after being forced by sheriff's officers into a restraint chair used for controlling combative arrestees. Agster's parents had been taking him to a psychiatric hospital because he was exhibiting paranoia, then called police when he refused to leave a convenience store where they had stopped enroute. Officers took Agster to the Madison Street jail, placed a "spit hood" over his face and strapped him to the chair, where he had an apparent seizure and lost consciousness. He was declared brain dead three days later. A medical examiner later concluded that Agster died of complications of methamphetamine intoxication. In a subsequent lawsuit, an attorney for the sheriff's office described the amount of methamphetamine in Agster's system as 17 times the known lethal dose. The lawsuit resulted in a $9 million jury verdict against the county, the sheriff's office, and Correctional Health Services.[68]

Scott Norberg
One major controversy includes the 1996 death of inmate Scott Norberg, a former Brigham Young University football wide receiver, who died while in custody of the Sheriff's office.[69] Norberg was arrested for assaulting a police officer in Mesa, Arizona, after neighbors in a residential area had reported a delirious man walking in their neighborhood.[70] Arpaio's office repeatedly claimed Norberg was also high on methamphetamine, but a blood toxicology performed post-mortem was inconclusive. According to a toxological report, Norberg did have methamphetamine in his urine, though "there would be no direct effect caused by the methamphetamine on Norberg's behavior at the time of the incident".[71] During his internment, evidence suggests detention officers shocked Norberg several times with a stun-gun. According to an investigation by Amnesty International, Norberg was already handcuffed and face down when officers dragged him from his cell and placed him in a restraint chair with a towel covering his face. After Norberg's corpse was discovered, detention officers accused Norberg of attacking them as they were trying to restrain him. The cause of his death, according to the Maricopa County medical examiner, was due to "positional asphyxia". Sheriff Arpaio investigated and subsequently cleared detention officers of any criminal wrongdoing.[72][dead link]
Norberg’s parents filed a lawsuit against Arpaio and his office. The lawsuit was settled for $8.25 million (USD).[73]

Richard Post
Richard Post was a paraplegic inmate arrested in 1996 for possession of marijuana and criminal trespass. Post was placed in a restraint chair by guards and his neck was broken in the process. The event, caught on video, shows guards smiling and laughing while Post is being injured. Because of his injuries, Post has lost much of the use of his arms.[74] Post settled his claims against the Sheriff's office for $800,000.[75]

Brian Crenshaw
Brian Crenshaw was a legally blind and mentally disabled inmate who suffered fatal injuries while being held in Maricopa County Jail for shoplifting. The injuries that led to his death were initially blamed on a fall from his bunk but were later discovered to have been the result of a brutal beating by jail guards on March 7, 2003.[citation needed] A lawsuit filed in the Maricopa County Superior Court of Arizona by the lawyer for Crenshaw's family stated:
An external examination report of the Maricopa County Medical Examiners Office concluded that Brian's death was caused by "complications of blunt force trauma due to a fall." This conclusion was reached largely on the [Maricopa County Sheriffs Office]'s relation of their "history" of Brian's injuries to the Medical Examiner's Office; a history that included the MCSO's implausible story that all of Brian's injuries were caused by a fall from his cell bed. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner conducted no autopsy; nor was the Maricopa County Medical Examiner informed by MCSO or [the Correctional Health Services] about Brian's beating on March 7, 2003 and/or related events. An independent autopsy report later narrowed the cause of Brian's death to peritonitis and sepsis secondary to the duodenal perforation. A fall from Brian's 4-foot, 2 inch bunk could not have simultaneously caused a broken neck, broken toes, and a duodenal perforation.[76]
The lawsuit against Arpaio and his office resulted in an award of $2 million.[77][dead link] As in the Scott Norberg case, it was alleged that Arpaio's office destroyed evidence in the case. In the Crenshaw case, the attorney who represented the case before a jury alleged digital video evidence was destroyed.[78]

Four deaths/serious injuries by the look of it. Plus the dog that got thrown back into the building they had set on fire.

So disgusting that people champion this bullshit.

Styrofoam Sammich

21stCentury wrote: »

Styrofoam Sammich wrote: »

Couscous wrote: »

Preacher wrote: »

And remember he runs the jail, not the prison. You go to jail awaiting trial. No one in his jails have been convicted of anything. So its even more abhorent.

Jails usually also house short term prisoners.

If you're sentenced for a misdemeanor or are serving less than 1 year you typically serve your time in a jail.

It still houses people who are, in the eyes of the law, still considered innocent.

Oh to be sure. I won't be defending how he treats people any time soon.

joshofalltrades

Styrofoam Sammich wrote: »

21stCentury wrote: »

Styrofoam Sammich wrote: »

Couscous wrote: »

Preacher wrote: »

And remember he runs the jail, not the prison. You go to jail awaiting trial. No one in his jails have been convicted of anything. So its even more abhorent.

Jails usually also house short term prisoners.

If you're sentenced for a misdemeanor or are serving less than 1 year you typically serve your time in a jail.

It still houses people who are, in the eyes of the law, still considered innocent.

Oh to be sure. I won't be defending how he treats people any time soon.

Not that it would be any more ethical to treat convicts this way. We don't run a retributive system of justice in this country.

21stCentury

joshofalltrades wrote: »

Not that it would be any more ethical to treat convicts this way. We don't run a retributive system of justice in this country.

Convicts are treated unethically all over the country. From overcrowded prison to forced labor. It's kind of hard to argue that the American prison system is not overwhelmingly punitive.

seabass

joshofalltrades wrote: »

Not that it would be any more ethical to treat convicts this way. We don't run a retributive system of justice in this country.

I think that might be a stretch. The death penalty, for example, doesn't do a lot to rehabilitate.

Couscous

joshofalltrades wrote: »

Styrofoam Sammich wrote: »

21stCentury wrote: »

Styrofoam Sammich wrote: »

Couscous wrote: »

Preacher wrote: »

And remember he runs the jail, not the prison. You go to jail awaiting trial. No one in his jails have been convicted of anything. So its even more abhorent.

Jails usually also house short term prisoners.

If you're sentenced for a misdemeanor or are serving less than 1 year you typically serve your time in a jail.

It still houses people who are, in the eyes of the law, still considered innocent.

Oh to be sure. I won't be defending how he treats people any time soon.

Not that it would be any more ethical to treat convicts this way. We don't run a retributive system of justice in this country.

That is a fact that many people in the South detest.

Henroid

21stCentury wrote: »

joshofalltrades wrote: »

Not that it would be any more ethical to treat convicts this way. We don't run a retributive system of justice in this country.

Convicts are treated unethically all over the country. From overcrowded prison to forced labor. It's kind of hard to argue that the American prison system is not overwhelmingly punitive.

Point yellow: Well sure, that doesn't mean it's okay. josh's point was that officially we don't have a system like that; the system being broken is a different thing.

Point cyan: Uh, I'm probably gonna get a lot of heat for this, but I've kinda felt that instead of having prisoners sit around in cells all day they should be put to some kind of work. Mind you, not the abusive kind, but they should be doing SOMETHING for society while they remain locked up. We don't exactly have a need for railroad construction anymore but there's gotta be something they can build.

Couscous

Prisoners don't just sit around in cells all day when they aren't being forced to work for a private company. Prisons don't clean themselves.

There are also a lot of prison programs that could have them doing shit that is actually useful to them.