The Significance Joe Arpaio In The Tent City

Joe Arpaio emphasized his role as Maricopa County’s Sheriff with the tent city prison. Tent city jails were created to reduce the growing inmate population and as a punitive measure against many criminals in Maricopa County. The jail could hold up to 2,100 people, although it was only able to accommodate 1,700. Tent city jail did not have air conditioning and the inmates had to wear pink underwear. He has been criticized for his policies when it comes down to crime. Joe Arpaio’s critics have questioned the importance of ethics and human rights in his policies. This paper assesses Joe Arpaio’s policies using deontology and utilitarian ethics.

Joe was the Maricopa sheriff at the time of his most infamous policy: the Tent jails. In these tents the inmates wore pink underwear below their jumpsuits. Pornographic journals were banned and cooking shows aired on cafeteria. Inmates were fed two meatless dishes a daily. Tent Jails did not have air conditioning despite temperatures that sometimes exceeded 120 degrees. Women were placed in Chain Gangs. Women of color have been accused of being targeted and mistreated in this case. Deontology ethics is a form of ethics that focuses on a moral code to determine whether an action is right or wrong. The effects of the actions are not taken into consideration. Joe Arpaio implemented policies and practices that were morally flawed during his term as Maricopa’s sheriff. This is especially true for the issues surrounding Tent City Jails. Joe Arpaio called the Tent city jail a concentration camp. It is difficult to be productive or morally correct when you are referring to concentration camps. Deontological ethics can be used to judge the sheriff’s actions as unethical. Inmates had their lives made extremely difficult. No air conditioner in a place with temperatures under 120 degrees is torture. The fact women of color suffered abuse shows how the actions and policies of the sheriff failed to pass the ethical test. In order to implement these policies, it was necessary to have a thorough understanding of human right.

Utilitarianism is a form of ethics that highlights the fact a certain action will be considered good or bad ethically if it serves the greater good (Frederiksen, 2015). Utilitarianism states that as long as a majority of people consider an action to be good, it is ethically right. Inmates and tactics used by Sheriff Joe Arpaio made his policies unpopular with the majority of citizens. People in Maricopa were not happy with the treatment of inmates, no matter what the method used. The fact Sherriff Joe Arbaio was not well liked by many in the county. Arpaio has recently been pardoned for his anti-immigration policies, which led to many immigrants ending up in Tent City Jails. He was charged with a number of crimes and a lack of respect for human rights. This included the treatment of illegal immigrants.

Kantian ethics is a way to gain a deeper understanding of how important it is that we focus our attention on our actions and not the end result. This means the ability of an act to fulfill its duty determines whether it is morally right or wrong. It is important to focus on categorical imperatives, which are the actions and treatment of others that will make you happy if they do the same for you (Chonko et al. 2016). It is clear from this ethical theory that Joe Arpaio was unethical in his policies, since he couldn’t survive the treatment of other people in his Tent-city jails no matter their criminal status. The impact on others is a crucial consideration when making a decision. Joe’s consideration of Tent City Jails as concentration camps is a sign that he had morally wrong intentions but still decided to carry out his policies.

Public safety is not the main concern when jails are built. Public safety is only possible if inmate rights are given the attention they deserve. Jails can be used as both a means of rehabilitation for offenders and as punishment. Even though they have lost some of their rights, inmates still qualify for better treatment. Jails should focus on the rights of inmates.