Pink prison makes Texan inmates blushDan Glaister in Los Angeles
Wednesday October 11, 2006
The Guardian
For some, it may be a sign that prison life has become too cushy. For others, it represents the ultimate humiliation as the final shred of dignity is stripped away.
At a county jail in Texas - maximum capacity four males and one female - inmates are dressed in pink jumpsuits. They sleep on pink sheets and wear pink slippers. Even the walls and the bars of the cells are painted pink.
"I wanted to stop reoffenders," the sheriff of Mason County, Clint Low, told the Associated Press. "They don't want to wear them. Working inmates get a choice to work outside or sit inside, and some choose to sit inside because they don't want people to see them. They would rather stay upstairs."
The tactic seems to be working, although it has had an adverse effect on the prison's policy of using inmates for community labour. "I'm not going outside in these things," said one inmate at the ageing jail. "It's a good deterrent because I don't want to wear them any more."
Another agreed. "The county would have more inmate labour without them," he said.
The policy started last year, shortly after Mr Low took office. While the pink jumpsuits are intended to act as a deterrent and stop inmates returning to jail, the pink walls are intended to calm tempers at the cramped prison.
The inspiration came from Joe Arpaio, the man dubbed America's toughest sheriff for his policy of keeping prisoners in Arizona under canvas in temperatures of up to 54C (130F). Sheriff Arpaio fitted his inmates with pink boxer shorts to stem thefts of prison underwear.
"It's just an easy step that will hopefully make some progress," Mr Low said. "That's not the Holiday Inn they are staying in up there."
The sheriff said that the reoffending rate was down by 70% since he introduced the pink regime. He added that there have been no fights among inmates since the walls were painted pink.
The tiny jail, built in 1894, is a historical site, and does not have to conform to all the state's prison guidelines.
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