Our sheriff put in federal lockup

[dolfan]

Well, it's on Drudge Report, too.

Morgan County Sheriff Greg Bartlett was held in contempt of court yesterday for failing to show that he'd complied with an earlier court order to implement a minimally nutritious meal plan for prisoners.

Let me put it the real way: He was feeding them oats and toast, baloney sandwiches and corn dogs, and practically starving them to death, so the judge found. And, because that amounted to a deprivation of a basic civil right to receive a minimal meal that meets basic nutrition needs, he had to stop it and show the court that he was implementing a basic meal plan to meet those needs or go to jail. He didn't do what he was ordered to do, and the judge put him in custody yesterday.

In Alabama, and this is legal, the sheriff gets complete control over his jail's food budget, and whatever he doesn't spend on food for prisoners he gets to keep for his own personal pecuniary gain. Crazy? Yup. Legal? Yup. And, Greg Bartlett is being made an example because sheriffs in almost every county in this state line their pockets with money that should be spent on prisoners' food. As it is, jail inmates in county lockups in Alabama do not get fed to meet even the most minimal and basic of dietary standards. This is a message that other sheriffs could wind up in similar jams if the State Legislature doesn't change the law to require these funds to be spent on inmates' food.

What happens is that the State funds X amount of the sheriff's salary, which in Alabama is not all that much. Counties fund the rest. But even that is not much to get a man who is half qualified for the job to run for election for it. So, the pot gets sweetened by allowing sheriffs to pocket unspent inmate dietary money, which is funded largely by each county. It gets pretty sweet for the sheriffs.

So, that's two guys in one week in local high ranking law enforcement in this town who have landed in jail for different reasons.