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<DIV>On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 22:20:45 -0700 <A
href="mailto:gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net">gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net</A> writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px">
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>Crime has decreased in
Maricopa County since Arpaio was originally elected sheriff.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>We are proud to have this
man as sheriff.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080 face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>Jeanene</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>Data please... categories of crime, raw numbers,
percentages, and comparison with the crime rates in other counties of the same
state, or other counties of similar economic development and population
densities in any state. You will be less proud of the sadistic SOB the first
time someone in your family ends up in his jail. Don't think it could ever
happen? Some of the highest profile front-page crimes are committed by people
nobody in their high school graduating class would ever have thought this person
would ever be involved in. Much less petty stuff that sheriff's deal with. There
but for the grace of God go I... or you.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Siarlys</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>Lance, I have had many wonderful camping trips in Boy Scouts
also, and in no way would I ever compare them to being in jail. Nor did I spend
six months to a year living in tents. After a week or three I got home, had
access to a modern bathroom, slept in my own bed, all that kind of good stuff.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As to prisoners giving up their rights, that is part true and part highly
dangerous.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Obviously, they have given up their rights to move around freely, to own
firearms, to choose what they are going to eat, to run out to the store whenever
they feel like it, to have playstation nine in their bedroom, etc. etc.
etc.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But also remember that the people in charge of jails and prisons are not
perfect little angels. In fact, most of them come from the same social and
economic backgrounds as some of the nastiest prisoners. (Not all, I think
someone in this discussion group has worked in a prison, but many). If you
simply say, prisoners have no rights, then whenever a particularly sadistic
guard (its an attractice job for a sadist to apply for) subjects a relatively
quiet prisoner who is just trying to follow the rules and do their time, to
treatment nobody should have to go through, there is no recourse because, you
have already said, prisoners gave up ALL their rights. Whenever some imperfect
human being is in a position of authority, there must always be some process for
review and appeal. They could be wrong. Some percentage of the time, they will
be wrong -- even the best of us are wrong sometimes. Oliver Cromwell exhorted
the British parliament once "Gentlemen, I beseech ye by the bowels of Christ to
consider that ye may be wrong." Does Sheriff Arpaio have the humility to do
that? If not, then he is unqualified to hold a position of authority. Bottom
line: people in government will always give voters an attractive reason for what
they want to do: they usually have others reasons they aren't telling us
about.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Siarlys</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>P.S. The tents are not necessarily a big issue. Being in a tent with some
breeze blowing can be better in a hot climate than being in a building that
retains heat all night and becomes dangerously stuffy inside. But I would have
some shade at the hottest times of the day also. We don't have to provide TVs
and cable, we do need to organize prisons so there is some activity occupying
the time, and some of it should be educational or modestly recreational, not
only grinding labor. Remember, these inmates are going to be moving back into
your neighborhood at the end of their sentence. Give them enough respect that
they are able to respect you when they come home.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dave:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I did not read the praise of Sheriff Arpaio ten years ago, I just received
it by email two days ago. Further, it could not have been written ten years ago,
because we were not occupying Iraq ten years ago. Or maybe the original writer
got something screwed up, but I commented as I received it.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Siarlys</DIV></BODY></HTML>