Greedy Barbarian Conservative Republican politician sherriff in prison

FUCK THE POLICE

911 EVERY DAY
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2009/1/8/225413/3915

Ala. Sheriff Arrested After Hearing On Skimping on Inmate Food
By Jeralyn, Section Inmates and Prisons
Posted on Thu Jan 08, 2009 at 10:56:00 PM EST
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At the conclusion of a federal court hearing in a case in which Morgan County, Alabama Sheriff Greg Bartlett was being sued for withholding adequate food from inmates, the Judge ordered him arrested.

A federal judge ordered an Alabama sheriff locked up in his own jail Wednesday after holding him in contempt for failing to adequately feed inmates while profiting from the skimpy meals. U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon had court security arrest Morgan County Sheriff Greg Bartlett at the end of a hearing that produced dramatic testimony from skinny prisoners about paper-thin bologna and cold grits.

During the hearing the Sheriff acknowledged pocketing $212,000 from the prisoner food budget, but said it's legal and a practice that has gone on since the depression: [More...]

Sheriffs in 55 of Alabama's 67 counties operate under the system allowing them to make money operating their jail kitchens. The law pays sheriffs $1.75 a day for each prisoner they house and lets the elected officers pocket any profit they can generate.

The law doesn't require the money to be spent at the jail or within the department; sheriffs can keep it as personal income. They historically have provided little information about profits, so the hearing offered a rare look into a practice that dates back to the Depression.

The court, while opining the practice of pocketing the money was "probably unconstitutional" ordered the Sheriff jailed for contempt of court. In 2001, he had been ordered to provide nutritious meals for the inmates and didn't.

From the testimony at the hearing:

One after another, 10 prisoners told Clemon about receiving meals that are so small they are forced to buy additional snacks from a for-profit store jailers operated inside the lockup. Most of the inmates appeared thin, with baggy jail coveralls hanging off their frames.

...Inmates told of getting half an egg, a spoonful of oatmeal and one piece of toast most days for breakfast, served at 3 a.m. daily. Lunch is usually a handful of chips and two sandwiches with barely enough peanut butter to taste.

"It looks like it was sprayed on with an aerosol can," testified Demetrius Hines, who said he has lost at least 35 pounds in five months since his arrest on drug charges....Prisoners said they never received milk until last week, when attorneys from a human rights center began asking about meals in the jail.

The Sheriff made some big bucks:

Bartlett said he personally made about $95,000 last year feeding inmates after also receiving money from the county and the U.S. government for housing federal prisoners. Despite rising food costs, Bartlett said he made a $62,000 profit in 2007 and $55,000 in 2006.

One thing that got to the judge:

...Bartlett said he and a neighboring sheriff recently split the $1,000 cost for an 18-wheeler full of corn dogs. Prisoners testified they ate corn dogs twice a day for weeks and the judge picked up on those complaints in his questioning of Bartlett.

Sheriff Bartlett will remain in jail until he comes up with a nutritious meal plan for the 300 inmates.
 
Hey Damo, I was intending to do this in the style of dano (which is why the title is such a huge exaggeration) and I forgot to include an obnoxious smiley. Could you edit it so that there's a "Thumbs up" by its name on the forum? Thanks.
 
Hey Damo, I was intending to do this in the style of dano (which is why the title is such a huge exaggeration) and I forgot to include an obnoxious smiley. Could you edit it so that there's a "Thumbs up" by its name on the forum? Thanks.
That might be one of the things that I can't do. I'll give it a try though.
 
Must make Dixie proud. The sherif made the mistake of giving them exactly 1/3 of their daily total nutrients at each meal per day. Three meals a day, thats 0.9999e! REPEATING DECIMALS ARE IMPOSSIBLE!
 
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