Slave labor used to run animal shelters. Nice.

I'd imagine that the prisoners would form an attachment to the animals and start to care about them.

Suddenly, people who never cared about anything or anyone have a stake in this world--maybe something that will even anchor them and change their perspective.

And he saved the county $15 million in the process. No whining that he needed to have more money thrown down a hole...

Is this a joke? The inmates volunteer...yes?

"If You Don't Like It, Don't Come Back."

You can't put it much better than that.
Jim

+ 1

How do you spend $18m on stray animals?

You make it a government entity?

Great idea! I just hope the prisoners are screened and these are non-violent criminals. There's unfortunately the potential for serious abuse or animal torture by some seriously pathologically disturbed nutcase, but for 99% of the inmates, this is probably a great, positive thing - as someone said.

If I was in prison, I'd most likely bust my ass to be able to work with the animals like he has set up.

My understanding is that prisoners don't have to do anything for him. They can sit in the jail and watch the weather channel all day long if they want to.

And look at the bright side, he seems like he is a guy that covers his ass, so I'm pretty sure he has a real vet on hand who overseas all, and any issues of the animals. and the prisoners are learning a skill. A friend of mine who works at a animal rescue makes a fair wage.

While much that Joe does is good, he himself is a criminal and needs to be removed from office IMHO.

He has so much underhanded dealings going on that its crazy. Its been proven that he has accepted funds from friends/family of people who are going to jail. They are then put in an air conditioned facility instead of "tent city" where its up to 120 degrees in the summer.

Lately he was caught spending millions of bux on "facial recognition software" for frigging Honduras. What does Honduras have to do with Maricopa County Arizona (aka the Phoenix area) one might ask? Well, us tax payers in Phoenix are asking and Joe is not telling, saying that we need to "just trust me." Part of the funds used here are "RICO funds," monies that were siezed in police raids but part of it are paid for by us local citizens, aka taxpayers.

Its just come out that one of the deputy's based in Honduras (yes, he now has LE staff in Honduras, a very nice vacation spot) is a partner in the facial recognition company and stands to make millions on this program. Conflict of interest one might say... but again Joe is refusing to talk about it.

Oh yea, should I mention that Joe locked up several newspaper editors recently when they published something that he did not like? The Phoenix PD released them the next day and state atty admonished Joe for doing this but its too late. Lawsuits are filed and he will lose like he usually does. In other words another stupid blunder by Joe will cost us tax payers more in legal fees and settlements.

He has been shunned by his local political party as he is a loose cannon. He has wonderful operations like his prostitution sting a couple of years ago. His deputies went after the "working girls" in the area around Christmas time, but instead of following the rules (and law) the deputies actually had sex with the girls, THEN busted them. 60 of the 70 cases were thrown out of court.

On and on many of us will be very happy when Joe retires and we get a professional lawman as Sheriff of Maricopa county.

GAFB.

Joe is 100% correct on this and he knows what he's talking about.

"The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day."

By any definition, people being coerced into working for free is slavery. If the Soviet Union was exposed doing this (they did) this board would have been all over it.

Don't use these phrases when talking about jail, "bust my ass, cover his ass and I'm so pretty." They can get you in trouble.:D

I don't know about Joe specifically, but a local sheriff around here was cut from the same mold. Pink jail cells, Para-military uniforms, "tough on crime", TV shows, etc. the whole nine yards (he fancied himself as another Joe A.) Problem is that in spite of his "public persona", he's now a convicted felon, and some of his ex-deputies are convicted of selling drugs. It was common knowledge for years that his dept. was corrupt, but he kept getting elected based upon the "public perception". Sometimes all is not as it seems....

"G" movies only. I can imagine the prisoners in the yard - all humming "under the sea" from The Little Mermaid..

....Under the sea
Under the sea
Nobody beat us
Fry us and eat us
In fricassee
We what the land folks loves to cook
Under the sea we off the hook
We got no troubles
Life is the bubbles
Under the sea
Under the sea
Since life is sweet here
We got the beat here
Naturally
Even the sturgeon an' the ray
They get the urge 'n' start to play
We got the spirit
You got to hear it
Under the sea.....

I must be missing something here. No way I would ever call this slave labor or cruel punishment or whatever. The inmates are probably grateful.

Joe makes for good sound clips but the reality is not quite so good.

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Hitler had camps like these...

Speer saved countless millions of Marks with this kind of labor too...but ...we don't remember that now do we?