"When I grow up, I wanna be just like Sheriff Arpaio!"

Today, the Gazette brings us yet another story of El Paso Sheriff Terry Maketa’s continuing efforts to ride the wave of publicity spawned by Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio (and, which –I might add– is really old news). Following in Arpaio’s footsteps, Maketa said he is “exploring the possibility” of banning letters, packages and magazines to inmates at the county jail, allowing them to receive and send only postcards. (Arpaio did the same thing last month, though Maketa said he wasn’t aware).

In April, we learned that Maketa’s solution to the problem of prisoner growth was erecting a tent city jail similar to Arpaio’s.  The parallels didn’t end there. Maketa made the comment, which appeared in one Post article that, “If it gets a little chilly on occasion, I think a little chill does the soul a little good” (commenting on the state law that requires the temperature to be maintained at least 65 degrees).  Compare this with Arpaio’s comments during the summer of 2003, when outside temperatures exceeded 110 degrees Fahrenheit (higher than average, even for scorching hot Phoenix): “It’s 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn’t commit any crimes, so shut your mouths!” (reported here).

I have also commented before both on Pols and on my own News & Comment page on some seemingly pointless practices, such as incarcerating a man, who had been acquitted of criminal charges, for three years for mouthing off to a judge and another for six years for issuing a “threat” to two judges, which letter appeared to be more of a lapse of clear thinking than a credible threat.

So, too, has Elena Bost, with the inmate-rights group C.U.R.E., who was reported by the Post as exclaiming, “If we have this many people going into our jail, we need to rethink our policies.”