I remember the county jail when it was on the top floor of the courthouse, and I was on hand to watch the then-new jail installed out on Low Gap Road.
Now, surprise surprise, our leaders want us to buy them another jail. But before signing contracts with all the baked-in cost overruns and guaranteed construction delays, let’s talk about ideas for a better jail.
Our incarceration system is a failure. Lack of imagination, or fear of change, keeps us doing the same stupid things to lawbreakers that have proven, over and over and over, to fail. Putting convicts in metal cages regardless of their crime(s) should be offensive to each and every one of us, more so to judges, lawyers, politicians and criminologists.
But it’s absolutely true. A minor offense might fetch a guy 30 days sitting in a brick and metal box out on Low Gap Road where his fellow residents might be child molesters, liquor store robbers, murderers, or graffiti taggers. No matter: They shall all sit, for varying lengths of time, in metal cages.
Prison is the same, minus the debtors, drunk drivers and vandals. America’s prisons are psycho-thugocracies, with tough, lifelong criminals controlling the day-by-day, hour-by-hour world inside the walls. A warden has no more influence over a prisoner’s life on the yard or in the B-Wing than the state governor has over your life or mine.
Let’s tinker with Mendocino County’s next jail and think outside the metal box. Let’s talk about some adjustments to re-think and re-make the proven incarceration failure we have now.
Make jail a place where violent, ignorant thugs are kept to themselves. Gotta keep ‘em somewhere, so keep ‘em together. Allow those willing to change and improve their lives the opportunity make a start of it.
Devote a wing to prisoners who have demonstrated an interest in a better life, most probably by taking classes, behaving, keeping their cells neat and clean, being polite and civil to the corrections staff.
From there, another separate number of cells for those who have shown the most dedication and motivation. Let them choose roommates. Give them free commissary items three days a week and (limited) access to the internet. Give them better and more frequent visitation from friends and family.
Reward them for taking online courses that could lead to employment, and give potential employers the opportunity to speak to inmates about jobs to consider upon release. Offer books from the county library. Allow local writers and poets to visit monthly to read their works and offer advice to would-be inmate authors.
Next-level inmates might be eligible for expanded yard and exercise time. Give them a chance to play sports against local teams.
Let’s put inexpensive (outdoor) pickleball, basketball and handball courts in our new state-of-the art jail. Why not let the best residents go off for (supervised) afternoons to play soccer, basketball or softball against teams from the Ukiah area? (Home uniforms: Orange t-shirts, or classic horizontal black-and-white stripes?)
Let’s talk about a plan to connect unwanted dogs living in metal cages at the animal shelter with men and women living in jail cages.
Let them have shelter dogs, with the edge going to older ones who’ve been sitting in metal cages themselves and as the weeks and months go by it’s clear no one is eager to take home. There’s a good old dog who would love to be a good old companion to good old folks with neither the time no energy for a puppy.
Is there a potential “Paws ‘n’ Prisoners Program” to get dogs and inmates together to everyone’s benefit? The canines might learn to socialize and their counterparts might be inspired to open dog grooming shops or work with veterinarians when released.
Newcomers to the Mendocino County Jail would quickly learn of the guaranteed benefits to working hard and toeing the line. Rewards of a semi-civilized, nonviolent experience would bring out the best behavior in the best inmates.
Improved jail conditions would be a goal every newcomer would be aware of and shoot for. The Message: Your behavior is being evaluated starting right here, right now. Job One would be demonstrating that you don’t belong among the thugs and lowlifes.
Next, let’s consider turning the present, allegedly outdated jail into a tourist destination. You’ll be able to sleep in the cell where Robert Wayne Danielson once slept! Breakfast a 6 a.m.. your choice of scrambled eggs, white toast, or Cheerios with low-fat milk.
Yard time? Tomorrow.
Visiting hours? None until you’re been here 30 days.
However you will be allowed one phone call. Collect.
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