Riding down the street and seeing young men in chains working on the side of the road is so 1960 and gives the wrong message to the world. I was looking for the horse with the deputy sitting high with sunglasses and a shotgun. Cool Hand Luke style. All I could think of is; how prejudice is this county?
How many ways can I say Chain Gangs are wrong? It is not a deterrent as the sheriff claims. The sheriff claims that people riding by will think twice about committing a crime if they see people in chains. If he truly believes that, he believes in Santa Claus. In fact, it is counterproductive. Every study done on rehabilitation shows that education is the best rehabilitative tool, not degradation.
People who committed minor crimes are put in chains thirty inches apart and subjected to labor. I have no issues with inmate work crews, in fact, I believe in them, along with education and self-esteem programs. There is no reason to humiliate people by putting them in chains and showing them to the public when they are at the lowest point of their lives.
If I was a doctor visiting Disney World from Minnesota and wanted to look for a condo on the sunny beaches of Brevard County, would I want to buy in an area with chain gangs? I wouldn’t. Chain gangs are wrong. Period! No less for a county trying to bring technology businesses into an area.
The jail is broken and a thorn in the side of the Sheriff and the county. Deputy morale is low, the attrition rate is high, inmate abuses happen way to frequently and woman can’t get basic hygiene items. Whoever runs the jail has been failing for a long time and the answer isn’t Chain Gangs, it is good leadership and compassion.
Rehabilitation comes from education, addiction help, life skills, and communications, NOT CHAIN GANGS.
Larry Lawton