I saw a story about the Maricopa County (AZ) prison on TLC this week, and just had to write about it. A web search turned up this very old CNN story about the prison.

The prison is probably the most unconventional prison in the U.S. Unconventional in one sense, old fashioned in another.

First of all, prisoners are kept in non-air conditioned tents, and not structures. The 'Tent City' was erected to save taxpayer money, and the County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, feels that pinching pennies is more important than coddling felons.

Inmates also must pay about $1 per day for their meals, which consist only of bologna sandwiches. Coffee was taken away to save $150,000 a year, and the only TV they get is the Disney Channel and the Weather Channel. Inmates wear old fashioned black and white stripes, and pink underwear. (White underwear was frequently stolen and sold on the black market. Changing to pink underwear nipped that in the bud.)

Arpaio also has an old fashioned 'chain gang' for off site work crews. In contrast to the infamous southern chain gangs, Arpaio's chain gangs are voluntary. They usually consist of work in high profile urban areas, to serve as quite a deterrence to those thinking of a life of crime. It is considered a privilege to work on the chain gang, and to get to leave the tent city for a short period of time.

While the prison has drawn the ire of organizations like the ACLU, the sheriff's 3+ million constituents are happy with the changes he's made. The changes are a direct result of criticisms of the modern penal system. The system that has long been accused of coddling felons, and making life on the inside better than life on the outside. I'm inclined to agree with them.