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Judges Junk Jailcam
theodp writes "With one dissenting opinion, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an AZ sheriff's use of Webcams to broadcast prisoners being booked and held in cells constituted a profoundly undesirable level of humiliation, rejecting the sheriff's argument that the Webcasts deterred crime and showed the public how jails work." The Village Voice has a good article from a few years ago detailing how the jailcams work.
I read an interesting article today that discussed shame and the law that is right along these lines.
. . . found too much evidence of maltreatment of prisoners.
Joe Arpaio has made a career of mistreating people that are being held for crimes they are not yet even found guilty of. He's been in trouble before for various activities of his before, including feeding those under his charge food that has been known to be bad - such as moldy bologna sandwiches.
That's right, all you have to do to enter Arpaio's 'House of Cruelty and Being Treated as an Animal' is be arrested for a crime. The police could be wrong, which is not uncommon, but you've already been treated as if you were guilty by that bastard.
Not only have I wished Arpaio would lose the office, but I've wished that he would be arrested and found guilty of thousands of counts of cruelty.
"You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
I don't have a problem with making them as uncomfortable as possible, but not to the point that you can get yourself into trouble because one of them dies from heat exhaustion or dehydration. Also, these are not violent offenders or anything like that. They're petty criminals with drug problems and so on.
In any case, the sum of the parts (the cams, the tents, the chain gangs, etc) is what makes Arpaio look like a grandstanding goof.
they have to get the permission of those people afterwards.
hence why a lot of faces are blanked out.
also you get the consent much later on when they are sober, calm or whatever.
His jailhouse tactics have cost the county millions in legal fees and settlements...
An article in Harper's from April, 2001, says: "So far, the total bill for jury awards and settlements is approximately $15 million."
The article notes:
However, Arpaio has a high approval rating, is regularly re-elected and his endorsement is sought by nearly all politicians.
Just in case you're interested on what the aforementioned sheriff is up to THESE days, take a look at the latest New Times.
-72
-Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music.
I'm all for freedom of privacy and not humiliating people... but c'mon, what about COPS?
Believe it or not, everyone you have ever seen on COPS has signed a waiver giving the show the right to show their faces on TV. The producers give people $500 to entice them to do so, but ultimately it's their choice. So every drunken crack whore you've seen on that show has signed away their rights, which means COPS says nothing about the case in discussion here.
Yeah. It's faked. A study at Arizona State University- paid for by Arpaio- showed that recidivism wasn't changed. So, it got buried.
But some of the images are more invasive: strip searches, female prisoners in various stages of undress, and, up until late April, a constant, unobstructed view of the women's toilet and the women using it.
Seriously?!? No wonder he lost the case. Way to hand your detainees tons of county cash, bozo. This type of guy in elected office is why we need strong anti-abuse laws on the books, and stricter supervision of prison operations. More interestingly, why isn't this bigger nationwide news? It would seem to have all of the makings of a major story, and yet I've only heard of it on /.
Of course, though the article states the toilet-cam as fact, the last line in the article has some hapless spokesdrone denying that charge... anyone know if they're just lying to cover up? From the attitude of the sheriff ( and much of law enforcement ), I'm guessing there really was a clear view of the women's toilet...
In 1997 Arpaio entered a plea agreement with the DOJ to improve conditions, yet in the last 7 years he has failed to do so.
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Unfortunately it isn't exactly news when someone falls ill to heat exhaustion in jail.
I know of two people personally who suffered heat related issues while being housed for minor offenses.
Here is a list from the person running against him in the election that lists quite a few issues the jail has had throughout the years.
http://www.sabanforsheriff.com/news/sonorannews
Please keep in mind that most of these people are there for a few days to a year or so. These aren't rapists or murderers. These are people who have been arrested for minor offenses, probation violation, or are awaiting trial.
Gailin
I wish there was a fscking blue pill
I agree with your points, but there's something you missed -- these are jail cameras, not prison cameras. These are being used during booking and holding (ie, jail), not during incarceration (ie, prison). You're not likely to be ass-raped while in a holding cell in a jail.
Check out "Top Ten Reasons NOT to vote for Joe".
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity but they've always worked for me" - HST
Q: In addition to the Web cam, what are some other things that are unique about your jail?
A: When I took office, I decided to put tents up, so we have almost 1,500 [inmates housed] in tents in the desert. I've gone down from three meals a day to two meals a day -- I call it brunch. And we have the cheapest meals, probably, in the country: 20 cents a meal.
I'm cracking down on animal cruelty, and when I make an arrest [for that], I have to seize [the animal involved]. I decided to put the dogs in cell blocks [in an unused jail]. I took some heat because that's the only jail we have that's air-conditioned. Also, it costs $1.15 a day to feed the dogs and only 40 cents a day to feed the inmates, but that's the way it goes around here.
I took away [inmates'] coffee; took away their smoking; took away their movies. The only TV they get is the Weather Channel, and they have to hear me do bedtime stories. I introduce the story, and [then play an] audio book. They can go to the library and get a regular copy, but this helps them learn how to read.
I put them in pink underwear. I decided to do that six years ago. I put them in striped uniforms several years ago, and I have male and female chain gangs. We do things different here since I became the sheriff. I just got reelected to a third term, and now everybody thinks I'm running for governor. All the polls show me leading for governor, but I haven't decided whether I'm running next year.
Q: It's been reported that you've had at least 800 lawsuits filed against you.
A: It doesn't mean nothing. It's how many you lose. Everybody sues me for the cockroaches, the food.
Q: Have you had to change some of your policies as a result?
A: I haven't changed anything.
The camera's were thankfully taken down pending the outcome of the court decision. And it now appers they will stay down.
Scott
©20014 angrykeyboarder & Elmer Fudd. All Wights Wesewved
Let's try this again. We aren't discussing making a record. We're discussing publicly broadcasting same in real time.
I don't care even if a jury sees it. Vanity is not more important than justice.
Even? A jury seeing it is the primary requirement for justice. Your neighbor not seeing it may well also be a requirement for justice.
KFG
Being an Arizona resident, i personally love what Sheriff Joe has done. And if you think the jailcam is a rough idea, spend a weekend in the tent prison.
Friends wife had to stay 2 days there for a DUI. Asked her later what it was like, and the part that sticks with me was "They told us to shake out our shoes in the morning before putting them on, because the scorpions are attracted to the sweat."
I use the taxi a lot more often now (;
Yuma, AZ...You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.
Yes, it is easily possible to die from 120F - dehydration and heat stroke are common causes. I am not sure anyone has dies of such causes in Tent City, though (New Times would have published such a story if it had). It's only a matter of time, I suppose.
You see, these tents have *no* air conditioning - not even a swamp cooler. Inside the tents, you have hot and stifling air (they are surplus military tents - heavy canvas things with little ventilation), outside, blinding sun and dirt with hardly any shade. Mix in 1000+ inmates and only a few (3-5, IIRC) guards and you have the making of a disaster.
Now, I am not saying jails and prisons should be comfortable places - but the majority of people in Tent City are there awaiting trial - that is, this is a holding area for presumably innocent people. These people (all people - including bona-fide convicted prisoners) have rights - among those rights are to be treated in a humane manner, not to be faced with "cruel and unusual" punishment. There is a reason Sheriff Joe's Tent City and jail system is on Amnesty International's list of most abusive prison systems worldwide (yeah, it ranks right up there with some dictatorship's prisons - hoo boy!).
Sheriff Joe's antics have not been cheap for the taxpayer - I cannot recount how much taxpayer money is going out in the form of lawsuits the county has lost (somewhere around 15-20 million, IIRC). He is popular with the voters, though I can't imagine how, given the abuses his organization has doled out to the innocent, presumed innocent, and guilty alike - not to mention his shady financial dealings, along with that prostitution sting f'up last year where it was found out his deputies were getting serviced by the women they were supposed to be arresting - leading to the County Attorney having to throw out all of the arrests (kinda difficult to prosecute such a case, dontcha know)...
Arizona residents who vote for this man are either stupid, blind or both.
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Hello,
Amnesty International takes a somewhat dim view of this Sheriff's methods, and note that there was at least one suspicious death in custody among other things.
innocent ... Until convicted, like when arrested, booked and held, people are innocent of the crime of which they are accused.
Actually, they are to be TREATED as innocent until proven guilty.
It isn't that they ARE innocent. It is that the government is NOT AUTHORIZED to apply PENALTIES unless and until their guilt has been PROVEN.
There is the PERPETRATOR, the person who committed the crime.
There is the SUBJECT of an investigation, somebody the cops think MIGHT be the perpetrator.
There is the SUSPECT, someone the cops think is sufficiently LIKELY to be the perpetrator that it's a good idea to hang onto him until a case can be presented and tried.
There is the CONVICT, someone whose guilt has been proven and is now subject to punishment.
The process of convicting someone consists of converting him from a SUSPECT to a CONVICT, by proving within the appropriate legal standards (beyond reasonable doubt) that there really was a PERPETRATOR of a real crime, and he is it.
Any treatment of them other than obtaining their presence in the justice system, which could prove their guilt, is unacceptable, and threatens us all.
Dead on!
People being booked are SUSPECTS (or maybe even SUBJECTS or material witnesses). They are NOT proven guilty and thus are NOT subject to punishment. The jailing is JUST to insure they can be brought to trial. Nothing more than the minimum inconvenience necessary for the smooth functioning of the system is appropriate.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
I used to be an officer in the jail system this article is talking about. Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a total media whore. He is a semi-decent lawman but is way overrated. He spends most of his day trying to find some reason to get in front of a camera. Almost anyone I asked who worked at MCSO before he was the sheriff said that he is much worse than the previous guy. MCSO has great officers (both Deputies and Detention Officers- jail gaurds) but the sheriff makes it a horrible place to work.
A great website about Sheriff Joe- http://www.arpaio.com/
While the webcam has been down for a while... you can still see booking photos (mug shots) for many people who were recently arrested on MCSO's website- http://www.mcso.org/submenu.asp?file=MugIndex
"Innocent until proven guilty" applies in court, not to law enforcement. It has to do with the burden of proof, not the treatment of the accused. The accused are -treated- as guilty until acquitted, as standard procedure -- and this is considered legal and constitutional. The accused are placed in jails with the convicted and are often sentenced to "time served", meaning the punishment for the crime was exacted before the verdict was even determined -- and this is considered legal and constitutional.