I don't have a problem with Mr. Nemeth's endorsement of Republicans, nor do I have a problem with his constant repetition of Republican talking points. After all, his weekly article is found on the Opinion page (and I know the difference between an Opinion piece and a news piece.) I don't like Mr. Nemeth's use of independent as a synonym for Republican. To my surprise, Mr. Nemeth didn't use the word independent at all in today's article. I wish the T&G had a counterpoint to Mr. Nemeth, but every year their Sunday Opinion page gets smaller and smaller.
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"He (Mr. Evangelidis) advocated charging inmates fees to defray the cost of their incarceration — a policy he wants to enforce at the county jail."Mr. Nemeth did miss on this point. In 2004 the Superior Court of Massachusetts struck down Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson's attempt to charge fees for inmates (details here and a counterpoint here). Whether or not you agree with the daily fee, sheriffs don't have the ability to levy these fees under state law, so if Mr. Evangelidis becomes sheriff, he'll have to lobby the State Legislature (where he used to serve) to change the law.
Mr. Evangelidis also promises the following:
"Inmates on occasion can earn small amounts of money for labor performed while they are incarcerated. I will make sure that every penny earned by inmates goes towards paying any monetary responsibilities that are not up to date. These will include child support payments, restitution payments and legal fees."It's an admirable goal, but on top of a daily fee plus fees for medical visits, dental visits, and haircuts where will this money come from? Either inmates will be forced to beg for money from their families, or the fees won't be collected at all and become an added burden when an inmate is released. (Unless they have a good work release job like Joseph Duggan.)
