Much has been made of Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd getting ever tougher on crime by getting ever tougher on criminals in his jail. And in his wake are some great sound bites.
He’s seen to it that county jail inmates get cheaper food, fewer TV options and no basketball hoops. “This is a county jail,” declared Judd. “It is not a gymnasium. It’s not some place where inmates can show up to have pickup games of basketball with their thug friends.” Then he topped his own incarceration rhetoric with: “If they want to play basketball and don’t want to be cooped up, stay out of jail.”
That can resonate. Lack of amenities is part of the punishment. Don’t like the living conditions? Then don’t do what will get you housed there. What a concept.
Here’s another concept. Inmates deprived of basketball hoops or TV beyond PBS–especially those with mental issues–can become harder to handle. Often amenity inclusion, such as some hoop time, is done more for the prison guards than the prisoners.