Unclean! Unclean!

For thousands of years, shepherds have attached bells to the lead sheep to keep the flock from straying. In medieval times, lepers were required to wear bells and cry, "Unclean! Unclean!" as they roamed the streets. Now a Utah sociologist has suggested that the same primitive notion be applied to prison parolees.

In an excess of reform inspiration, Professor Gerald Smith of the University of Utah suggested that parolees have an electronic beeper surgically implanted in them so that their movements can be monitored 24 hours a day. Smith was quick to add that the installation of the device would be voluntary, and implied that the prisoner who volunteers might be granted a reduction of sentence. His rationale was that the tagging would somehow reduce the rate of recidivism and make parolees more likely to go straight.

Surveillance of a parolee is a fundamental penal concept, but it is questionable whether the implantation of a 1984 device would help keep a 1972 ex-prisoner under control.

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