Housing Bubble 2: Return of the Ugly

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Sheriff buys beach house with $750,000 meant to feed inmates; three days after the story breaks, sheriff imprisons journalist's source. (www.npr.org)

submitted 10 hours ago by SeattleRain to c/housing_bubble_2

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

This is an interesting followup piece of the publication that broke the original story:

https://www.al.com/news/2018/12/heres-how-federal-inmates-made-an-alabama-sheriff-15-million.html

Some noteworthy pieces of information imho:

The total sum "leftover" after underfeeding and badly feeding was in the millions.
Keeping the Alabama "leftover" money was legal under state laws, for some crazy reason.
They also had a federal contract to keep ICE prisoners, and got federal money for that, which they did not treat separately from the Alabama money.
Another Republican (Jonathon Horton) unseated that swine Todd Entrekin in their primaries two to one.

Then in 2019 the food account was finally made into a public one by the state legislature, 25% of it could still be misappropriated to other law enforcement activity though. Then in 2020 the was a referendum in Etowah county to make that percentage 100%, but I can't find out how it went in the end. The Gadsen Times are blocked for European readers.

https://www.al.com/news/2020/03/voters-in-2-alabama-counties-to-consider-jail-inmate-food-funds.html

[–] FlashMobOfOne 2 points 42 minutes ago (1 children)

What galls me about this, even more than fat sheriffs getting fatter by starving people, is the inference that since they're following the law it's all totally okay. I have an ideological problem not just with that statement, but the sentiment behind it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 37 minutes ago* (last edited 35 minutes ago)

Yes! The worst was this quote by Entrekin, hiding behind the law acting as if that's all that matters:

“It’s the law. I haven’t done anything wrong,” Entrekin said at the time. “If it's wrong, somebody needs to change the law. I have asked [state legislators] to change the law and they have not changed it.”

I'm with you on this one, just yesterday on a different post I said as much: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/25358559/14482392

[–] Warl0k3 55 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

If I remember right, this wasn't even illegal. A lot of places in the US still have this ancient (and fucking ridiculous even back when it was new) rule that the sheriff gets to pocket any leftover cash from the prisoner care budget.

Yeah, anyways this is usually the reason behind it whenever you read anything about prisoners being fed roadkill or spoiled food or whatever. Ancient, incredibly brazen corruption.

[–] ikidd 27 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

the sheriff gets to pocket any leftover cash from the prisoner care budget

That's utterly insane.

[–] Squizzy 5 points 4 hours ago

America. The American experiment. Home of the Free.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 hours ago

It was likely meant to be used for other means to buy what is needed. But clearly not written well to stop corruption

[–] Orbituary 78 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

ACAB.

[–] FlashMobOfOne 14 points 10 hours ago

Yup.

[–] Sludgehammer 41 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

Ah okay, this is the 2018 story. I read the headline and was like "Again!?"

[–] arin 2 points 6 hours ago

Any new updates since?

[–] Lost_My_Mind 11 points 10 hours ago

Nobody likes a sequal....

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 hours ago

God damn this is some brazen corruption...