Pennsylvania's Department of Imprisonment has never been quick to learn. Under imprisonment boss Jeffrey Beard it's one of the most regressive systems in the civilized world. For all that, Doctor Beard's enormous and corrupt imprisonment department has learned a lot from America's Nazi-like abuses of prisoners and civilians in Iraq. Remember the chilling photos of prisoners being tortured by savage dogs? That seems to have given old doc Beard an idea. He doesn't have many of them. The Pennsylvania Department of Imprisonment will use "trained" dogs to further harass visitors! Doc Beard's gulags have long worked to abuse families and visitors. He's got at least half a dozen schemes to wring money from prisoners' families for everything from critical medical care to food. Taxing the already impoverished families of prisoners is Republican doctrine which doc Beard embraces wholeheartedly: make the poor pay! Dogs will harass prison visitors and discourage loving families from keeping in contact with prisoners. It's important to doc Beard's imprisonment schemes that prisoners should be isolated. That way they'll remain involved in crime; no chance for rehabilitation or improvement. It's job security, for the imprisonment industry you understand. The excuse for the harassing intimidation is that old boogeyman drugs. What bullshit! The dogs will accost visitors, poking wet noses into crotches and up skirts. Under the pretext of sniffing out those demon drugs, the hounds will humiliate, degrade and intimidate visitors. If there's one thing that the doc Bleary types relish, it's degrading and humiliating people. That should discourage most loved ones from invading doc Beard's gulags and learning what's really going on. If grandma doesn't like Fido sniffing her tail, she just won't be allowed to visit. Isn't doc Beard a sweetheart? It makes one wonder how a man got that way. The Pennsylvania Department of Imprisonment already uses the ridiculous drug sniffers. They are totally unreliable, producing thousands of false positives. In a brief visiting room interview, a lieutenant Weissinger wouldn't commit himself about how unreliable the so-called ion-scanners are or why dogs have been recruited in the never-ending crusade against phantom drugs. He asserted that the dogs would be "certified" (whatever that may mean - that, they'll sport a little doggy-badge?) and the handlers would be "trained" (trained how? to do what to whom?). The facts are that prison bosses and many guards are drunks and that real drug smuggling is done not by visitors, but by the prison staff. Forget about the systematic abuses of prisoners in doc Beare's overflowing prisons. Look at the systematic abuses of the public; a billion and a half tax dollars completely wasted and now a snarling rottweiler cornering the baby carriage to make sure that junior's bottle isn't laced with cocaine! In this age of the greedy Republican Mafia doesn't anybody have any sense or ethics? Skoobie-Do-Do, where are you?! PUBLISHER'S ADDENDUM We complained to Jeffrey Beard, the Pennsylvania Secretary of Imprisonment, about this egregious intrusion. Frankly, it's amazing the bullshit he expects the public to buy. Deceit! We recap the crap. (1) The intrusion of having a dog stick its nose up the lady's dress has a smart official moniker: Canine Air Scan program! That's a splendid example of the pompous pretense of the Department of Imprisonment and its boss. (2) The dogs supposedly "come from the Susquehanna Service Dog program." No address was provided. When you want to sue, you'll probably want to include that outfit in the suit. (3) Somehow, sniffing visitors entering the prison is supposed to "enhance public safety." That's typical Beard double talk. The only "public" involved are the persons being humiliated and degraded by the dogs. Having a mutt sniff the baby doesn't enhance junior's safety. (4) Beard's double-speak continues with an Orwellian explanation that public safety is enhanced by "ensuring that state prison facilities [he means the prisons] are safe, secure and drug-free." That's bunk on the Richter scale. (5) To complete the dishonesty of Doctor Beard's excuses, he twists the facts. Imprisonment officials pull that ploy very frequently. When the truth backs them into a corner, they play slight-of-hand and misdirect you to something else. Doctor Beard explained that it was okay to sniff the visitor's body because the court in Neumeyer v Beard had ruled that it was okay to sniff a car. This guy got his job because he can't tell the difference between a car and a person. Jeff wants us all to know that he's "ensuring the safety and security of inmates, families and staff." A dog sniffing your wife is going to do all that? Bullshit! But we sincerely thank the learned doctor for shoveling this wagon of manure at us. It's damn insulting when a self-important bureaucrat thinks we're as dumb as he is. ESG. Rebecca's Bargain Antiques Collectible Vintage Photos Fine Prints - Old Maps Sheet Music - Old Books Elegant Antiques and Collectibles "Everything I like to do is either illegal, immoral or fattening" W.C. Fields in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, 1941 You are welcome to use or republish any of our material. Please give www.prisoners.com credit as the source. Return to the New And Interesting Menu Return to the Family and Visiting Menu Return to the Public Enemies Menu Return to the Main Menu. Go to our site's Search Engine Send us Your Comments or Input.