Destination Tent City, AZ

Book excerpt: One day a young woman--a productive member of society--stopped for a few beers, then drove on. She was a middle-class offender, so the law came down hard, sentencing her to ten days in Tent City, a prison of tents as fetid, repressive, and scorching-hot as any POW camp. The bad news went on and on: steep legal bills, endless fines, a malfunctioning interlock device ... In the end she was broke, humiliated, and everyone in her new social circle had a criminal record. Did the punishment fit the crime? Is this really the most effective way to keep problem drinkers off the road? Ever since Tent City was established in 1993, this jail in Maricopa, Arizona, has been making headlines. Destination Tent City, AZ chronicles a two-year period of a young woman's life after she, like so many Americans, made the fateful decision to drink and drive. This "as told to" account of the practical and psychological repercussions of receiving a DUI should give readers pause the next time they decide to drive away from happy hour. Especially if they happen to be in Arizona.