From Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi's newsletter, some interesting information about one of the local jails. I've highlighted a few sentences and terms in the message that seem like useful or interesting information (anyone know what "visiting pulls" are? Pulling prisoners out of their cells to see visitors, perhaps? I seem to recall that one of the other articles I've read about incarceration said that jails don't typically distinguish between people in jail serving their sentences, and legally innocent people who have not been convicted of anything but are forced to sit behind bars in "pre-trial detention" (a euphemism for pre-trial punishment).
What percentage of the people being kept in county jail do you suppose are classified as "mentally ill"? The newsletter mentions "pill call" -- presumably, handing out medicine to prisoners at certain times of day. Are prisoners getting their medicine when they need it under such a system? Conversely, are prisoners being deliberately over-medicated to keep them docile? Are such questions even on the local media's radar? I notice the list of tasks performed by media includes "medical escorts" and "attorney escorts" but not "media escorts". One wonders how much access the media even have to the jail.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))