Prisoner uniforms are the target of a proposed ordinance that will have its first reading at the Aug. 5 Baxter County Quorum Court meeting. Quorum Court member Gary Tennison, a Republican, who crafted and sponsored the ordinance, alleges that the uniforms currently used are dehumanizing, while the sheriff says it’s a matter of punishment and safety.
Tennison says calling for a change in uniforms is about the dignity of the prisoners and their reintegration back into society.
Sheriff John Montgomery, also a Republican, says the changes would create a potential hazard for the public and take away part of the inmates’ punishment.
The measure calls for a change from the current black-and-white striped jail uniform and flip-flops to green scrubs —which Tennison said is a soothing color — and deck shoes. The proposal calls the current uniform “a throwback to the “archaic uniforms of the mid 1800s.” According to Tennison, who is a retired investigator for the Alaska Attorney General’s Office, the uniform gives the impression that Baxter County is backwards.
“The more you humiliate people, the angrier they become,” Tennison told The Bulletin, adding that making people who commit nonviolent and minor crimes dress just like violent offenders leads to them identify with them, which he believes hurts their reintegration back into society. “You give them the impression that they’re just like these hardened criminals.”
