Anyone seen
this charming tale of how an Arizona sheriff treats his prisoners?
For the chief lawman of Maricopa County, which includes the 3 million residents of Phoenix and its satellite cities and suburbs, presiding over the chain gang fits his self-declared image of being the toughest sheriff in America.
Under Arpaio, the 8,000 inmates of the county jail system work seven days a week, are fed only twice a day, get no coffee, no cigarettes, no salt, pepper or ketchup and no organized recreation. Human rights groups regard it as the harshest jail system in the United States.
They have to pay $10 every time they need to see a nurse. If they want to write to their families, they have to use special postcards with the sheriff's picture on them. If their loved ones visit, they see them through thick plate glass or over a video link.
And it just gets worse from there. He wants to start a similar one for juveniles, too.