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Sheriff makes inmates throw pink fit February 26, 2004 NO doubt the prisoners intent is to project raw masculinity: a no-nonsense crew cut, a bristling bandito moustache and a tough-guy tattoo on his right forearm. But peeking out from underneath his black-and-white striped prison uniform are a pink T-shirt and the waistband of his pink shorts. Completing the picture is a pair of pink socks in dire need of laundering. The Joe Arpaio fashion line is on display on inmates at the Estrella tent jail, one of several run by the tight-fisted, animal-loving Arizona sheriff widely recognised as the toughest lawman in the US. Arpaio wants his charges to hate every minute of their lives in jail. Smoking, coffee, pornographic magazines and television are all banned. In winter, both women and men shiver in canvas tents, probably wishing they were dogs. After his election in 1992, Arpaio closed a climate-controlled jail and converted it into a shelter for abused animals. He then moved the criminals into Korean War-era tents he acquired free from army surplus. His next move was to cut the prisoners meals to two a day, and limit the menu to bologna sandwiches for brunch and stew for dinner. Over the long, hot summer, as abandoned chihuahuas and earless cats relax in the shelter in a cool cell, inmates roast on double-bunk beds in their canvas home. It now costs about one dollar and 15 cents a day to feed the dogs, and its about 35 cents to feed the prisoners, Arpaio says proudly. When Arpaio began introducing his style of justice in 1993, complaints poured in, the American Civil Liberties Union cried foul and many thought he would not last another six months in the job. But 11 years and two re-election campaigns later, the pugnacious 71-year-old sheriff sits in his 19th-floor corner office in the Wells Fargo Building, offering a splendid panoramic view of Phoenix. Theyre not going to get me, he boasts, a defiant sparkle in his eyes. His approval ratings are between 80 and 85 per cent, all but assuring his re-election this September. Inmates now send out postcards featuring the sheriff and his rescued animals. Most days, the orange-uniformed and shackled women spend their time picking up garbage along busy highways or digging graves at the county cemetery. I will soon put out the first juvenile chain gang, the sheriff promised. When word of his pink underwear spawned a flurry of requests for a sample, the sheriff was more than glad to oblige. His office is now selling sets of jail T-shirts and boxer shorts for $US10 about $13 a set. Arpaio dyed all the prison underwear that colour after learning prisoners were stealing items from the laundry. Yet amid all the harshness there is a recognition of the need for rehabilitation. Arpaio operates the only accredited jail high school in the US, where imprisoned high school dropouts are taught the basics of business management along with maths and science.
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