Mason County Jail in Texas is completely pink. The cells are pink. The shoes are pink. The uniform is pink. The sheets are pink. Even the towels are pink.
"The county would have more inmate labor without them," one unidentified inmate told CBS. "I'm not going outside in these things. It's a good deterrent because I don't want to wear them anymore."
We've seen unconventional prison rehabilitation before, like Paws in Prison — but the color pink? Really?
Well, it was all Sheriff Clint Low's idea. Low believed that Texas men do not want to be caught dead wearing pink. He was right.
"I wanted to stop re-offenders," Low said. "They don't want to wear them. Working inmates get a choice to work outside or sit inside, and some choose to sit inside because they don't want people to see them. They would rather stay upstairs."
The pink theme is to keep inmates from re-offending. It might sound silly, but it's been working. The re-offense rate has been down 70 percent since the new policy. Low asserts that there haven't been fights at all between inmates after the jail was painted.
"It's just an easy step that will hopefully make some progress," Low said. Although the prison is small, only holding 3–5 people, the bizarre policy is changing lives and preventing inmates from re-offending.
See the peculiar story below and please SHARE if you're impressed by the way this savvy Sheriff is making a difference.
