Saturday, November 22, 2014
Friday, November 21, 2014
“Unnecessary Rigor” in our Jail
(Speech
to the Josephine County Commissioners, July 18, 2007)
I spoke to Sheriff Gilbertson this
morning on KAJO’s morning talk show. His
only response to my demand that he properly clothe his inmates for the chill he
maintains is, “Don’t go to jail.” Since
the jail will not be empty any time soon, if ever, the issue remains. I have been there; I have felt my big toe go
numb from the cold while living indoors; I had to keep myself wrapped in blankets
to keep from freezing for the entire week I was there, except when we were
allowed outside in the exercise yard, where the temperatures were in the
90’s. Our sheriff spends good money
refrigerating the people in his charge.
I have been there and I cannot forget
it and will not let it go. The fact that
most of the women were wrapped in blankets, and that the guards allowed it
despite the jail rule that bedding must stay on bunks, shows that the clothing
provided is insufficient for the temperatures and that the guards know it. They allow it despite the risk to themselves
from blanket-wrapped inmates! So
insufficient clothing on inmates is a double lawsuit risk to the county, both
from the risk to officers and by mistreating inmates.
Sheriff Gilbertson is playing to the
“punish them enough that they won’t come back” crowd of Arpaio* lovers, at the
expense of the safety of his officers and his charges, and of the finances of
the county. But jail isn’t for
punishment; it’s for holding people until trial, some of whom are innocent. To the extent the jail holds convicts,
holding people in a concrete box is punishment enough, so the Oregon Constitution
says that people held in jail “shall not be treated with unnecessary rigor.” It doesn’t say the same about prisons, because
prisons are for punishment; it just can’t be cruel or unusual. Yet state prisoners are given more clothing
and are held at far more comfortable temperatures than jail inmates.
County Commissioners are responsible
for the treatment of jail inmates.
Commissioners are individually required to periodically inspect the
jail. Each of you Commissioner should individually
ask the inmates about the temperatures, and sit in a holding cell for even a
half-hour in only a cotton, short-sleeved jumpsuit, underwear, socks, and
sandals, and see how rigorous the conditions are. Even though he is an elected official, the
Commissioners can take the operation of the jail away from the Sheriff, if need
be. The Sheriff is playing politics
with people’s lives and the finances of the county, by making it impossible to
enforce his own jail’s safety rules. The
County Commissioners should at least officially tell him to stop doing so, and
to properly clothe his charges.
*Joe Arpaio, Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, famous for tent jail, pink underwear, and persecution of Hispanics.
What Would Jesus Eat?
Letter to the Daily Courier 7/12/07
What would Jesus eat? Raven Sara asks us to “follow the example of
Jesus” in making food choices, saying “He never ate ice cream, chips, soft
drinks or beer,” and asking us to replace them with watermelon, snap peas,
carrots and celery sticks.
Jesus didn’t have ice cream, chips, or soft drinks
available, and apparently drank wine instead of beer—a lot of wine, as did
everyone else. It was safer than the
water. He also didn’t have watermelon,
snap peas, or carrots, though he may have eaten celery or something like it.. Fish and bread he had in abundance, and
probably a little beef or lamb on occasion
But I don’t imagine he would have turned his nose up
at ice cream, chips, or soft drinks. He
was not terribly concerned with the health of the body, but rather with that of
the soul. He battled with the Pharisees
of his time over their petty hygiene regulations, declaring, “Hear me everyone,
and understand: There is nothing that
enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things that come out of
him, those are the things that defile a man.
If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Mark 7:14-16)
He was far more concerned with how one treated other
people than how one treated oneself.
When asked by a rich young man what good thing he should do to be saved,
he said “Obey the commandments.” When
asked which ones, he named 6, all of which deal with how one treats others, and
none with personal health. (Matthew
19:16-22, Mark 10:17-22)
On another occasion, he said, “For John came neither
eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and
they say, ’Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of harlots and sinners!’”
The best reason to take care of one’s health is the
vigor that good health brings. But
preaching and nagging about it just drives people to bad habits in
reaction. The best way to spread good
health habits is by personal example, not by the example of Jesus.
Live Free and Prosper,
Rycke Brown
Sheriff flouts jail rules
Speech to the Josephine County Commissioners, 1-1-2007
This rule has a good reason behind it. A blanket can be used to hide weapons or contraband, or be used as a weapon, to take down and disable an officer. This is especially true when the rule is routinely broken, as it is now, and officers are used to seeing inmates wrapped in blankets within their pods.
The rule has to be ignored within the pods by staff and inmates alike because the clothing the inmates are provided is no match for the temperature the jail maintains. It is simply too cold for loose, short-sleeved cotton jumpsuits.
When I apprised Gil Gilbertson of this situation while he was running for office, he was all sympathy about denial of constitutional rights. Once he was in office, I asked him if he would raise the temperature or provide long underwear, which would make it bearable without blankets. His concern for constitutional rights had vanished.
I have asked Sheriff Gilbertson repeatedly on KAJO’s talk show what the actual jail temperature is. He never admits to knowing it, but says he will get the information to me. I follow up with an e-mail inquiry, to which he does not reply. Last show, he said he already had told me, and I said he had not. He flat-out lied to the public, on the air. And again, he did not reply to my e-mail.
You would think that, by now, the number would be engraved on his brain—if he has ever thought to inquire. Yet he tells you that the temperature is in line with national standards, whatever they are. And he says that there is good reason for the chill, but he doesn’t tell us what that reason is.
As for reasons for not providing more clothing, he started with, “I can’t afford it.” When I pointed out that there are unspent personnel funds, he came up with, “They might hang themselves.” When I pointed out that such people are given paper gowns in a warm cell, he gave up on excuses. Now he gives no reason.
All one can conclude is that the Sheriff is playing to the “punish ‘em before conviction” crowd. But jails hold the innocent as well as the guilty, which is why the Oregon Constitution says that prisoners in jail shall not be held with “unnecessary rigor.” Even prisons that I have been in don’t provide this degree of rigor. There, we had warmer indoor temperatures and clothing for all seasons.
We
have a serious problem in our jail. Our
Sheriff won’t allow the inmates and staff to follow a rule clearly printed in
the inmate manual, which says that inmates will not remove bedding from their
bunks.
This rule has a good reason behind it. A blanket can be used to hide weapons or contraband, or be used as a weapon, to take down and disable an officer. This is especially true when the rule is routinely broken, as it is now, and officers are used to seeing inmates wrapped in blankets within their pods.
The rule has to be ignored within the pods by staff and inmates alike because the clothing the inmates are provided is no match for the temperature the jail maintains. It is simply too cold for loose, short-sleeved cotton jumpsuits.
When I apprised Gil Gilbertson of this situation while he was running for office, he was all sympathy about denial of constitutional rights. Once he was in office, I asked him if he would raise the temperature or provide long underwear, which would make it bearable without blankets. His concern for constitutional rights had vanished.
I have asked Sheriff Gilbertson repeatedly on KAJO’s talk show what the actual jail temperature is. He never admits to knowing it, but says he will get the information to me. I follow up with an e-mail inquiry, to which he does not reply. Last show, he said he already had told me, and I said he had not. He flat-out lied to the public, on the air. And again, he did not reply to my e-mail.
You would think that, by now, the number would be engraved on his brain—if he has ever thought to inquire. Yet he tells you that the temperature is in line with national standards, whatever they are. And he says that there is good reason for the chill, but he doesn’t tell us what that reason is.
As for reasons for not providing more clothing, he started with, “I can’t afford it.” When I pointed out that there are unspent personnel funds, he came up with, “They might hang themselves.” When I pointed out that such people are given paper gowns in a warm cell, he gave up on excuses. Now he gives no reason.
All one can conclude is that the Sheriff is playing to the “punish ‘em before conviction” crowd. But jails hold the innocent as well as the guilty, which is why the Oregon Constitution says that prisoners in jail shall not be held with “unnecessary rigor.” Even prisons that I have been in don’t provide this degree of rigor. There, we had warmer indoor temperatures and clothing for all seasons.
This rigor is not necessary. The bedding-on-bunks rule could be followed
if the Sheriff would either raise the temperature or provide his captives with
long underwear. Instead, he says he has instructed
staff to allow inmates to wear blankets.
He teaches disrespect for the rules to people who hardly need the
lesson.
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