Jerry Mosier Archives - Colorado Central Magazine

Uncle Mose devastated by jail election outcome

November 18, 2009December 1, 1997 by Staff

Essay by Jerry Mosier

Prison politics – December 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine

Uncle Mose devastated by jail election outcome

by J. T. Mosier

CHICO FLATS, SAN LUIS VALLEY, COLORADO — Uncle Mose has been shaking his head and mumbling into his coffee since the 32 drubbing on election day of a proposed 100-bed jail for Chaffee County, and the consequent shattering of his hopes for a new career as a for-profit prison consultant.

“Commissioner Frank McMurry almost hit the nail on the head…weren’t any ORGANIZED opposition that killed our chances for the new jail; it was all that UNorganized opposition we didn’t count on…”

Prisons don’t work, so let’s build more of them

November 18, 2009November 1, 1997 by Staff

Letter by Jerry Mosier

Prisons – November 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine

Prisons don’t work, so let’s build more of ’em

Editor:

I turned 22 in prison, a member of the first group of guards hired in 1961 under Kansas Civil Service; prior hirings had been a tradition of political patronage.

And, until I typed this, I had not taken into account that I was there at the beginning of the trend toward bureaucracy, professionalism, and protectionism that has seen salaries of correctional officers increase tenfold from the $267 per month that I received before taxes for six-day weeks.