Patterico's Pontifications

3/15/2010

Eating Out In Jail

Filed under: Crime — DRJ @ 8:50 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

The Bexar County (San Antonio) Jail has a new idea for jail food:

“To cultivate better inmate behavior, and make some money, San Antonio jail officials are allowing friends and loved ones to special order hot meals for delivery to prisoners.

In allowing food services contractor Aramark to initiate its “iCare” online ordering system, officials expect to bring in $15,000 yearly in new revenue for operations at the chronically overcrowded jail, the biggest expense in Bexar County Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz’s $100 million-plus budget.

The novel service offers a limited menu, but it’s gaining popularity “as word has spread among families,” said Darrell Wagner, who oversees the for-profit operation for the Bexar County sheriff’s office.

The county keeps 29 percent of every sale.”

The favorites are the “jumbo cheeseburger with fries, at $8.99, which is cooked on-site and delivered hot to the inmate,” and the $7.99 Italian meatball grinder. The beef and cheese nachos are a good fit in San Antonio, but there’s also a “pizza and wings party pack.” Invite your friends over!

— DRJ

21 Responses to “Eating Out In Jail”

  1. I pass by the jail all the time. Wonser if they take walk-up orders?

    I also wonder what the ratio of local internet users with credit is to family members in the pokey?

    BradnSA (3cbaf4)

  2. The real demand in San Antonio would be authentic Mexican cuisine. In particular, the #4.

    Other revenue enhancers might include a drive-thru for wheelchair-bound inmates, and ACLU sponsored scratch-offs.

    TimesDisliker (596631)

  3. What happened to bologna sandwiches?

    daleyrocks (718861)

  4. Of course, you know, this will be discontinued quickly.

    Not because it’s a novel idea to save taxpayer money or even because it’s providing perks to the incarcerated.

    It will be stopped because it’s violating someone’s rights.

    Ag80 (f67beb)

  5. Under Obamacare, a meal comparable to the best being provided to inmates by their families will have to be made available to all inmates not able to afford such a meal.

    P. 2134, subpar. 5(u)(iv).

    shipwreckedcrew (c0d6cd)

  6. Plus, everything must be salt-free.

    DRJ (daa62a)

  7. Is Texas going soft? What is happening in my country?

    Patricia (e1047e)

  8. That’s not a bad deal for the county. The last budget I ran when in the sit-down, food-service industry, after direct costs and house expenses, we were lucky to have 16% of net profit, and 2/3’rds of that went to Corporate.

    Just as with oil profits, government makes more in taxes on each dollar of gasoline sold than does the oil company whose name is on the pump.

    AD - RtR/OS! (913281)

  9. I don’t think it’s soft as much as it’s capitalism and a creative way to make money during tough times.

    DRJ (daa62a)

  10. Soon, under Obama, there won’t be inmates. They will all be in college or some other school with government student loans.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  11. And the streets around campuses will be even more dangerous than they are now.

    AD - RtR/OS! (913281)

  12. someone will sue because there are no halal meal options….

    you don’t like the food in jail? don’t commit crimes.

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  13. food good enough to get arrested for.

    BradnSA (ddf75a)

  14. I have always thought that prison should be a very spartan existence, and if inmates wanted various luxuries (television, Internet, meals as described above, etc.) then their families should have to pay for it. Otherwise they can content themselves by working out in the yard and reading in the library.

    My guess is that this program will be discontinued because someone will complain that it is discriminatory towards inmates with poor families or those with no families at all.

    JVW (fd30ab)

  15. I think it sounds fine. I think a lot of the world does it this way, and at hospitals as well. The institution provides bare bones services, the person and family are still responsible for the amenities.

    I have a request for the first lawyer who files litigation because this is unfair: if you go out to dinner to restaurants that I can’t afford, you must take me with you; if you vacation somewhere I can’t afford to go, take me and my family with you…

    MD in Philly (70a1ba)

  16. When I was in jail, some days we would have a dollop of bean-and-question-mark casserole, other days a one-slice baloney sandwich. One tiny drink of Kool Aid every day (only for those who hadn’t lost their personal styrofoam cup.) We saved all our cigarette butts to shred and re-roll.

    How times change!

    gp (72be5d)

  17. Sounds like a great idea. Hope other prisons adopt it. (check the cakes for files).

    Corwin (ea9428)

  18. A lot of institutions have comissaries from which prisoners can buy extra food and drinks with their “bank accounts”. If this program is aborted, it will not be because of inequality, it will be because it causes disciplinary problems — resentment among the prisoners, extortion, and the purchase of favors.

    nk (db4a41)

  19. Sounds like something out of an 18th/early 19th century British novel. The ones where the imprisoned protagonist could pay the gaolers to bring in meals from a local tavern or inn.

    Mark L (53fe4f)

  20. Why not just let mom bring in a bucket of tamales every Sunday like they do at home?

    Some 115lb kid with rich parents is gonna be buying a lot of cheeseburgers

    Steve G (909b57)

  21. 30% profits selling to a literally captive audience is capitalism now?

    fishbane (a72928)


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