With the popularity of hit cable TV show “Orange is the New Black,” prison culture has once more jumped to popular culture. Orange prison jumpsuits are used though out the country to the extent that one Michigan sheriff claims that they are too popular.
Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel claims that many prisoners think that the orange jumpsuits are cool. To combat this mentality, the sheriff is switching prison jumpsuits. “We decided that the black-and-white stripes would be the best way to go because it signifies ‘jail inmate,’ and I don’t see people out there wanting to wear black-and-white stripes.”
The sheriff goes on to talk about the phenomenon of people wearing orange jumpsuits in public like it is a point of pride. He told the website Mlive “I see a lot of people wearing all orange, and they think it’s cool. And some people even put ‘Property of the Saginaw County Jail’ on the back of it. I’ve seen that. It’s like, what are you doing? Really?”
According to the sheriff, the prisoners do not like the change in style “They don’t like it. They’ve been very verbal,” he says. “A lot of them have said, ‘We don’t like wearing black-and-white stripes.’ And my response is, ‘Too bad. Don’t come to jail.’ If you come to dinner at my house and you don’t like what I’m serving, don’t come back. If you don’t like the food, don’t come back. If you don’t like the clothes that I give you, don’t come back. I didn’t ask you to come wear this uniform.”
So the prison culture of wearing sagging pants and no belt will no longer include orange jumpsuits.
