Inmate Labor Pains
2011-05-17 - by
What would Jim Gardner say?
The silver-haired, golden-tongued GOP gubernatorial candidate had a great issue in 1992, when he was running against Jim Hunt: “Make prisoners work – and work hard,” he said in his TV spots.
He was outraged that hardened criminals were idling away their time “watching TV and working out.”
We took notice in the Hunt campaign. Just two years earlier, George Herbert Walker Bush had eviscerated Michael Dukakis over Willie Horton and inmate furloughs.
(One wit in the campaign suggested that Hunt propose a real get-tough step: “Take away their HBO.”)
When it came to crime issues, however, it was tough to out-tough Hunt. He took up the issue himself – along with a raft of crime-fighting proposals. After the election, Hunt ordered a sometimes-reluctant Department of Correction to put prisoners to work. And they did.
We made sure the public knew it. Thus the signs: “Inmates Working.”
Now, Republican politicians want to do away with inmate labor. The issue has gone from GOP dogma to disposable.
Democrats take note: It’s good for prisoners to work. And the public likes it.
Inmate Labor Pains
2011-05-17/
What would Jim Gardner say?
The silver-haired, golden-tongued GOP gubernatorial candidate had a great issue in 1992, when he was running against Jim Hunt: “Make prisoners work – and work hard,” he said in his TV spots.
He was outraged that hardened criminals were idling away their time “watching TV and working out.”
We took notice in the Hunt campaign. Just two years earlier, George Herbert Walker Bush had eviscerated Michael Dukakis over Willie Horton and inmate furloughs.
(One wit in the campaign suggested that Hunt propose a real get-tough step: “Take away their HBO.”)
When it came to crime issues, however, it was tough to out-tough Hunt. He took up the issue himself – along with a raft of crime-fighting proposals. After the election, Hunt ordered a sometimes-reluctant Department of Correction to put prisoners to work. And they did.
We made sure the public knew it. Thus the signs: “Inmates Working.”
Now, Republican politicians want to do away with inmate labor. The issue has gone from GOP dogma to disposable.
Democrats take note: It’s good for prisoners to work. And the public likes it.