YES! Local and county jails, not prison, have kicked people out.

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These institutions operate on municipal and county funds and have budgets. It is a system designed in a specific way. The offender is put in the jail, and wants to get out. The offender performs all the necessary acts to secure a release, always involving money that finds its way back into the system that incarcerated the offender. Think of it like a business that makes money. Now I am not saying it is a for-profit organization, unless there is corruption which is always a possibility, but it must make up any budgetary shortfalls while meeting the needs of the community it serves.

The problem occurs when an offender is happy to stay.

While this is perhaps unimaginable to you or me; let me tell you about Paul. Paul is what we call..... slow. He is not retarded, but he is different. He has no ambition or desires and lives only in the moment. When Paul became an adult the family did its best to look after him, but it is his own life. He lived under bridges, in shelters, and on the streets and was happy there. The family strived to get him to improve his situation. But Paul was Paul. You could buy him a coat and he would give it away to someone who needed it more. You could bring him home, but would have to fight him to get him to bathe. Rules about bathing was more than he could handle.

Naturally Paul found his way into the local jails for numerous petty offenses, such as drunk in public, driving without a license, no insurance, no identification and such. Paul was never harmful and would never hurt anyone, although he was a good sized man, especially if he was eating regularly. By the time Paul was 30, the jails in the area no longer wanted him. It didn't matter what he did, he would not be brought in and processed.

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No one is going to bail Paul out. Paul does not want to be bailed out. Paul sees a bed, 3 hot meals a day, and friends. Why would he want to go anywhere. This type of prisoner costs the city/county money and works against the budget. This prisoner does not see this as punishment and therefor nothing is gained. When Paul is asked about making a phone call when arrested, he says no. He calls no one. There is no one he needs to notify that he has been arrested. There is no one coming with cash in hand, or bond. Paul is always released within 48 hours.

Just last week, Paul told me he was stopped. Yes, Paul is my brother, and we still do everything we can to look after him. He had borrowed a friends car and was pulled over. Paul once had I.D. and can recite the number, which allows the officer to confirm an identity, but he no longer has a card. Paul has no drivers license, and the car was likely uninsured. This is one of Paul's 'friends' car, right. They let him go, no arrest, no tickets, no impounding the car. This has become the norm for Paul, as absurd as it sounds, it is true.

Paul telling me this, prompted me to tell this story. I do not know what the meaning of this story is, or if there is anything here to be learned. But for some perhaps, you can not get back in jail.

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