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A Desperate Argument: Sheriff claims feds will mandate jail building if voters don't approve new Tyler lockup

Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith told a local TV station that if voters don't approve a new jail on the November ballot, "He believes if a new jail doesn't get approved now the federal government will step-in and approve one themselves."Hmmmmm ... Really?!And where else in Texas has this occurred? In Dallas, where the feds have active litigation, nobody's come close to doing anything like the Sheriff suggests here. Even if the feds sued Smith County because of jail overcrowding - and there's no such litigation right now - it would take many years before a judge even came close to ordering new construction on their own.J.B. just made that up - it's a desperate argument, perhaps further evidence the pro-jail crowd in Tyler has begun to implode and sabotage their own efforts.continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on October 15, 2008 (boomark / email).