Eight of the strangest prison rules in the world

Generic prisoner.

PETER Severin, the man in charge of NSW prisons, wants inmates to be banned from smoking in the state’s jails.

The Corrective Services Commissioner says smoking is harming the health of both the prisoners themselves and jail staff.
Mr Severin’s push to ban cigarettes may seem controversial, but it’s actually pretty dull compared to some of the harsh rules in other prisons around the world, especially those in Maricopa County, Arizona where inmates are ruled by the iron fist of controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Here is a selection of his rules, as well as some of the bizarre things going on in other world prisons.


WEAR PINK UNDIES
Joe Arpaio has been labelled “America’s Toughest Sheriff”, with good reason. Sheriff Arpaio has banned smoking, coffee, movies and unrestricted TV in his jails. But here’s the good part — he also forces his inmates to don pink underwear. He implemented the measure to stop prisoners from stealing boxer shorts, but has since started praising the “calming effects” of the colour pink.

Joe Arpaio, “the toughest sheriff in America. Photo: AAP

BECOME A VEGETARIAN
The same Sheriff has recently decided to stop serving meat in a bunch of Arizona prisons, forcing inmates to eat vegetarian food. The meat is being replaced with soy to cut costs, and the inmates are only being fed twice every day.
CHAIN GANGS
The controversial sheriff also reintroduced chain gangs and makes some prisoners sleep in a ‘tent city’ where temperatures in summer soar above 45 degrees celsius. When they complained about the heat he reportedly told inmates: “It’s 120 degrees in Iraq and the soldiers are living in tents and they didn’t commit any crimes, so shut your mouths.”
DANCE, DANCE, DANCE
Inmates at Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Centre in the Philippines are famous for their choreographed dancing. In one performance, which has been viewed more than 53 million times on YouTube, murderers, sex offenders and drug dealers were forced to shuffle to Michael Jackson’s hit song Thriller. Warden Byron Garcia concocted the odd rehabilitation strategy.


BUY YOUR CELL
San Pedro prison in Bolivia is more like a gated community than a proper jail. Inmates have to buy their own cells and many work at the food stalls inside the prison. With enough money, a prisoner can purchase a spacious cell with a private bathroom, cable television and a kitchen. Poorer prisoners are forced to share smaller rooms.

RUN A RESTAURANT
Italians love fine food, so naturally their prisoners are forced to become master chefs. Inmates at Fortezza Medicea Prison have to run their own restaurant, which is open to the general public and has a reputation for being just as good as any four-star restaurant on the outside.

The Fortezza Medicea Prison makes inmates run a restaurant. Pic: YouTube

PAY FOR YOUR FOOD
Sherrif Joe Arpaio strikes again. The inmates in his jails have to pay for their meals using whatever money they had before being sent to prison. “If they don’t like it, I would highly recommend they don’t come to jail,” the ever understanding Sherrif says.

LIVE WITH YOUR KIDS
Aranjuez Prison in Spain teaches inmates parenting skills by making them live with their young children. There are 36 family cells, known colloquially as “five-star cells”, where children are allowed to live until they are three years old. At that point they are removed and sent to live with relatives, presumably because it’s no longer OK for them to grow up in jail.