You've GOT to be kidding me!

[crabcake]

Ark. Inmates Get Fruit, $5 for Christmas

"Let's face it. If you're not where you want to be on the holidays, it can be real depressing," said Dina Tyler, spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Correction.

The annual gift costs the prison system between $60,000 to $70,000. Administrators say the expense is worth what it represents to inmates — an acknowledgment of what is a difficult time of year for anyone away from family.

First off ... if you didn't want to be in prison & away from family over Christmas, DON'T DO THE DANG CRIME!!!

Secondly, if I were an Arkansas tax payer, I'd be furious over this. Guess that's just my heartless, hardazz republican self speaking, but this is crazy.

 

[Sharon]

The money for the program comes from the state's Inmate Welfare Account, which is a combination of fees collected for phone calls made from the prisons and cash confiscated from inmates.

 

[crabcake]

I saw that, Sharon ... but i'd rather see that money go to the victims of crime or offset the cost of operating the prison.

 

[Sharon]

Originally posted by crabcake
I saw that, Sharon ... but i'd rather see that money go to the victims of crime or offset the cost of operating the prison.

You grinch-meamie! I think the psychological value of the gesture is probably worth it. For goodness sake it's only fruit and 5 bucks...probably more than some of them ever got for a gift.

 

[crabcake]

Originally posted by Sharon
You grinch-meamie! I think the psychological value of the gesture is probably worth it. For goodness sake it's only fruit and 5 bucks...probably more than some of them ever got for a gift.

I know I am but having been on the receiving end of a criminal in action, it puts things in a different perspective, I guess. I'm a hardazz when it comes to crime ... I don't care how "minor" the infraction is ... prison is too soft if you ask me ... it's not supposed to be all warm and fuzzy. It's prison -- punishment for screwing up! If you don't wanna be there, don't be a dumbazz criminal ... and that goes for shoplifting a 50-cent pack of gum or blowing the head off someone's grandma when you bust in her house to rob her blind.

 

[Sharon]

Originally posted by crabcake
but having been on the receiving end of a criminal in action

So have I and I'd just as soon shoot their azz during a crime and call it a day, but since their locked up and can't hurt anyone why not throw them a bone in the holiday spirit.

And Cari, I don't have any sympathy for them. They can rot in jail for all I care.

 

[Tonio]

I'd give them the fruit, but only after it sat out for a few days, just long enough to case maximum intestinal distress.

 

[crabcake]

Originally posted by Sharon
but since their locked up and can't hurt anyone why not throw them a bone in the holiday spirit.

I'd rather toss that bone to the family who they committed their crime against, or to the F.O.P. who's members put their lives on the line to put the azz in jail, or the prison employees for a Christmas party ... held right in front of 'em so they can see and smell what they are missing by being stupid.

Now THIS is prison!

 

[crabcake]

Originally posted by Tonio
I'd give them the fruit, but only after it sat out for a few days, just long enough to case maximum intestinal distress.

nahh, that'd drive up medical costs in treating 'em.

 

[Tonio]

Originally posted by crabcake
nahh, that'd drive up medical costs in treating 'em.

You're assuming incorrectly that they'll get medical treatment for it.

 

[Tonio]

Originally posted by cariblue
I just don't think it's right to spend 60/70 thousand dollars on criminals who get three squares, a bed, television, gymnasium, health care, etc; when there are certainly needy families in Arkansas that have none of the above.

True, but I wouldn't mind spending a similar amount if it would be used to break the prisoners' spirits. Make them feel the same emotional anguish that their victims felt.

 

[Sharon]

Originally posted by cariblue
... criminals who get three squares, a bed, television, gymnasium, health care, etc; when there are certainly needy families in Arkansas that have none of the above.

I agree, so why get your panties in a bunch over a few pieces of fruit?

 

[Sharon]

Originally posted by cariblue
How would you know anything about my panties?

told me.

 

[vraiblonde]

I feel two ways about this:

On one hand, pizz on them and to Crabcake.

On the other hand, sometimes a kind gesture is what someone needs to turn their life around. I've known people who weren't worth the powder it would take to blow them to hell. Then someone showed them a kindness and they realized there was more to life and turned themselves around. I mean, not someone truly heinous, like a child molester or serial killer, but someone who maybe robbed a store or wrote bad checks or like that.

Differentiating between unrehabilitable (?) criminals and those that there's still some hope for is something prisons should spend a little more time on.

 

[crabcake]

Originally posted by vraiblonde
Differentiating between unrehabilitable (?) criminals and those that there's still some hope for is something prisons should spend a little more time on.

amen!