Restraint to be used on inmates who flush towels down toilet

I believe it was Gatewood Galbraith who said that full employment in today's totalitarian environment means that 50% of the people are jail guards and the other 50% are in jail. And this is another story of how there's a whole system in place to punish everyone.

At the jail in White County, Tennessee, they've come up with a new device to punish inmates who "misbehave and cause problems" (in the words of the sheriff). They call it a restraint chair, and it looks like a large, gray airplane seat with straps sprouting in every direction. Really it's a torture device.

What sort of offenses will earn detainees an appointment with the restraint chair? The sheriff says inmates have broken windows and flushed towels down the toilets, and he's mighty tired of it. So I'm assuming the chair will be used on prisoners who merely damage property.

What century is this again? What's next? Waterboarding?

A device like this has potential to do real damage, and it doesn't exactly sound like the proper tool to combat vandalism. I guess it's kind of a situation where if all you have is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail. The damage to the inmates may be less physical than psychological: Wouldn't you be bitter if this device was used on you for something as minor as plopping a towel?

If there isn't a lawsuit over this, I'll just bip.

(Source: http://www.spartaexpositor.com/articles/2008/04/03/news/doc47f0af19a708a969643848.txt)