ACLU: Inhumane For Ohio To Shut Off Prison Power In Exchange For Payments

[Purveyor]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio is urging state officials to stop accepting payments from energy companies in exchange for temporarily shutting off power to prisons during peak periods.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections has said that 24 of 26 prisons are participating in a program where KOREnergy pays the department to switch to generator power when demand is at the highest.

The Columbus Dispatch reported that “power for lights, fans, televisions and other electrical devices was shut off on two afternoons for three to four hours” during the heat wave this week.

Most prisons in Ohio are not cooled with air conditioning.

Although the program has generated $1.3 million over three years, the Ohio ACLU warned this week that the savings was not worth the risk to inmates and custody staff.

MORE...

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/07/19/aclu-inhumane-for-ohio-to-shut-off-prison-power-in-exchange-for-payments/

[RC]

1. Who cares about people when there is money to be saved.

[rhett o rick]

2. Wowza. How slippery is this slope. nm

Last edited Fri Jul 19, 2013, 01:49 PM - Edit history (1)

[CrispyQ]

3. How much could we save if we cut them to two meals a day?

Just in case.

We are such a punitive society. We love having classes of people we can look down on & treat any way we want. Maybe that's just human nature in general, but our society cultivates a mean spirited, kick you when you're down, mentality.