AGINAW, Mich. (AP/WJLA) – A Michigan sheriff says he’s trading his inmates’ orange jumpsuits for black-and-white stripes, in part due to pop culture.
Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel said that all-orange jumpsuits are increasingly viewed as fashionable, especially because they’re seen on popular TV shows such as the Netflix smash hit “Orange Is the New Black.”
Federspiel said “some people think it’s cool to look like an inmate of the Saginaw County Jail … wearing all orange jumpsuits out at the mall or in public.”
He said since inmates sometimes work in public, he doesn’t “want anyone to confuse them or have them walk away.”
Federspiel said some prisoners have complained, but his response always is, “Don’t come to jail. I didn’t ask you to come here and wear this uniform.”
