Prison abuse in America

We're rightfully embarrassed by our treatment of prisoners abroad but the abuse of our prisoners at home is often overlooked. Take for instance, this sheriff in Alabama who pocketed $212,000 in profits by cutting costs on feeding the inmates in his charge. The truly astounding part is he did it with a base budget of $1.75 a day that he's allocated by the state. Even more amazing, he didn't have to break any laws to do it. Apparently 55 of Alabama's 67 counties operate under this same system.

The sheriff claims he was able to save money by obtaining additional county and federal funds, smart shopping and donations of fish sticks from schools. Even if that's true, the description of the daily fare sounds like cruel and unusual punishment to me and it's hard to believe that nutrionally sound meals could really be provided even at double the daily allocation of money. If this country wants to be the biggest jailer in the world, you might think we could at least treat the inmates more humanely than this.

Update: This sort of fraud doesn't just happen in Alabama. This guy in Oregon, makes the local sheriff look like small potatoes.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News.]