Cameron County Jail Needs Gail Hanson

(None of us are perfect. --- Sometimes you need a little help from a friend)

First may I confess to the Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Anger, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth. Especially Gluttony and Sloth, because aging has stolen the energy I once had for the others.

That having been said, the Cameron County Jail, and for that matter, the Cameron County Criminal Justice System, and for that matter, jails, prisons and criminal justice systems in the United States could use some improvement.

Sheriffs (including this Sheriff) become defensive when "their" jail is discussed. The recent election cycle showed the weird spectacle of a jail preacher talking about how nice the jail is and the good doctor discussing how good the care is, in defense of the sheriff who, no doubt, is practically perfect in every way.

So before we move to specifics, let me pontificate in general that the tensions between sheriffs, county commissioners, police agencies, and Texas State Government guarantee that all the jails in the State are substandard. Not that all would fail a gumming test by the toothless Texas Commission on Jail Standards, but none do what they are intended to do: that is, hold people who are presumed innocent in a humane manner until they can be tried and convicted or acquitted.

The best sheriff would probably not be a policeman at all, but have some management experience in running a hotel or a restaurant or a hospital or a school or a monastery. Unfortunately, for reasons mired in other social defects, the only candidates who present themselves for the august position tend to be cops. More on this after some reflection during the wee hours of the morning: "Why don't other folks, besides police officers, want to be sheriff?"

In the meantime, sheriffs cannot run a good jail, because commissioners won't give them the money to do so. Commissioners won't give them the money to do so, because they would rather hire someone for the road crew so they can get the patronage rather than giving it to the sheriff. Also, Commissioners won't give the money because felons and illegal immigrants who fill the jails can't vote. Also, Commissioners won't give the money because they are afraid some genius will start talking about criminals not needing to be in country clubs and sheriffs need to be tough guys to go with the police image rather than the motel manager image I think is more appropriate for the job.

Most folks don't worries too much about jail conditions unless they have a kid in jail. Did I ever tell you about my Republican Christian lawyer friend who ridiculed me for a couple of decades for talking about jail conditions until his son grew up, went bonkers, and spent months in and out of jail on minor offenses? All of a sudden he became interested in the 8th Amendment and prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. I felt I was being strong and kind by resisting saying,"I told you so," in the midst of his pain.

Does anyone remember when Cameron County Jailers were contracting tuberculosis from the inmates? Jails become a petri dish for disease and jailers (who mostly are there because they need a job and have families to support) catch those diseases.

This all leads up to the question on my mind: Isn't a shame, a scandal even, if Gail Hanson, private school administrator and jail pastor is excluded from the women's section of the jail because she advocates for the prisoners?