Sounds pretty harsh to me: who knows how many people locked up were for minor crimes, or non-violent drug offenses? Even hard core criminals deserve some human rights.
DECATUR, Ala. — The prisoners in the Morgan County jail here were always hungry. The sheriff, meanwhile, was getting a little richer. Alabama law allowed it: the chief lawman could go light on prisoners’ meals and pocket the leftover change.
And that is just what the sheriff, Greg Bartlett, did, to the tune of $212,000 over the last three years, despite a state food allowance of only $1.75 per prisoner per day.
In the view of a federal judge, who heard testimony from the hungry inmates, the sheriff was in “blatant” violation of past agreements that his prisoners be properly cared for.
“There was undisputed evidence that most of the inmates had lost significant weight,” the judge, U. W. Clemon of Federal District Court in Birmingham, said Thursday in an interview. “I could not ignore them.”
[From As His Inmates Grew Thinner, a Sheriff’s Wallet Grew Fatter – NYTimes.com]
Remember when prison was for rehabilitation of society’s miscreants and not just institutionalized torture?