Quote:
Originally Posted by POS
I live in Houston, Harris County and the prisoners here sit in jails. Damn shame to waste such talent. However, I work in Brenham, Washington County, Texas and there we make those guys wear the black and white stripe outfits and they mow gov't grass, pick up trash along the highway, and pull weeds around the courthouse. I don't see what the hell is wrong with that.
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I would put money on it's probably a labor union issue.
Our town had a maximum security prison until 1963 (last electrocution in the state in 1960) when it closed and the state tore it down and built the Dept. of Motor Vehicles building. My grandfather always lamented that change saying the town was never cleaner and well kept than it was by the inmate work crews who did everything from clearing sidewalks in the winter weeding flower beds to maintaining the youth sports fields. They also did the cleanup heavy lifting after the 1936 flood.
Instead we have the DMV which is a trash and litter magnet.
Having a prison certainly carries some stigma but talking with the old-timers in town who lived through both the prison and the DMV, they preferred the prison.