Story Archive

Jail Food

When Cook County, Ill., Sheriff Tom Dart took the job, he didn’t expect what jail inmates were eating to be a major problem. Then he found out they were eating the jail. Lorine Barber’s son is one such inmate; she says he’s gone for surgery 19 or 20 times for eating screws, nails, and more. “Pieces of whatever falls off the benches, paint, he don’t care,” she said. “The doctor was like, ‘He’s going to make it, if he just stops eating [expletive].’” Dart thinks the inmates eat the inedible to manipulate the system. “They’re attempting to get out of this place.” Their surgeries are often performed in outside hospitals, which, including sending guards along, is a “very expensive proposition,” Dart says. Barber claims her son needs psychological treatment. (AC/WBBM Chicago) ...Or maybe just a healthier way to get enough iron in his diet.