Caddo Parish Sheriff, Steve Prator, argued against some criminal justice reform programs that allow for inmates to be released early. Part of his argument made sense. The other part of his argument was horrifying. He argued against releasing good inmates because they provide free labor and save the government money. Short version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_yGDQyUyKU Long version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbI_wz1iXQA Sheriff: Louisiana's early release of prisoners means loss of 'the ones you can work' | NOLA.com
Prater's remarks are extremely objectionable - as is the system that allows / encourages a sheriff-entrepreneur (?) to send a prisoner out on work-release and then take the lesser of $461 per week or 64% of his pay. As I see it, a sheriff's job is criminal justice / law enforcement - not a business enterprise that indeed has all the appearance of slavery / human trafficking. If there wasn't a sheriff involved , and the workers weren't convicts, this um-enterprise would land the perpetrator(s) in jail. I'm beginning to understand why the U.S. has more people in prison than China - or any other country in the world. And why people like Prater want to keep it that way. J.
