Tents for Jail?
I read yesterday in the Austin American Statesman that a state representative was going to introduce legislation allowing county government to house inmates in tents. This seems pretty absurd. Forgetting for a moment the social and ethical implications, prisons have bars for a reason. I am betting that it will be more difficult to keep prisoners in tents than it is to keep them in cells.
The guy also claims that if it's good enough for the troops its good enough for the inmates. I am guessing that this guy has not done a whole lot of studying in military history. The biggest killer in warfare is disease caused by living conditions. Living in tents and using port-a-potties is a sure fire way to make people sick in the long run. This is typical right wing rhetoric, folks. It looks like we are going to save money by not having to build more jail space and we end up paying higher medical for the inmates.
Here's an idea. How about investing in ways to keep the crime from happening. Then we would not have to build more jail space or put up tents. But it is an investment in the future and we need to realize that we don't always see the results right away. Things that are worth doing probably take some time.
I wonder how much this state representative has invested in the tent industry.
If you know better, let me know.
1 comment:
I agree. Not only is this constitutionally wrong, and the healthcare related implications worrisome, but TENTS?!?!?
Incase we have forgotten, some inmates do get into quarrels. Tents do come apart and I can think of one or two parts of a tent that could be pretty dangerous when used in the beating a person senseless capacity.
In the “it’s good enough for our soldiers, so it’s good enough for our inmates” line of thought. It’s NOT good enough for our soldiers!! But, that’s an entire tirade that I will spare you here.
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