Monroe County needs a new jail
Government's most important duty is protecting the innocent from violent predators.
Note: I submitted this letter to the Herald-Times. The final paragraph is not in the draft I submitted to keep the letter under 200 words.
With all of the controversy over where a new Monroe County Jail should go, some folks have missed a basic point, and a secondary but still very important point.
First, Monroe County needs a jail. That is not a pretty fact, but we do not live in a pretty world. There are violent people, and government is obligated to protect law-abiding people from those who would prey upon innocents. There are people who commit crimes that require incarceration.
The related secondary point is that the current jail has been adjudicated in a court of law to be unfit. County government is legally obligated to build a new jail to comply with the courts, and have already delayed the process far too long.
The City Council stood in the way of county government’s efforts to find a location inside city limits. Listening to them claim to want to help now is repulsive. One reform has been made obvious by this controversy: The state legislature needs to eliminate city government’s zoning authority over land owned by county government. The county has its own elected officials who have been entrusted with authority by the voters, and city government should not usurp that authority.
I am completely opposed to any effort to build a jail directly behind Summit Elementary. The neighborhood has made it clear that a jail is not welcome there. There are other, much more suitable locations than behind an elementary school and bordering a public park.