Two important things having to do with the LA County Jails abuse scandal and with Sheriff Lee Baca happened over the weekend.
THE WIDENING OF THE FEDERAL INVESTIGATION:
It is now clear that the FBI’s probe of the abuse of jail inmates by Sheriff’s deputies is much wider than simply an investigation into several alleged incidents of abuse, as it appeared to be in the beginning.
According to an LA Times story by Robert Faturechi and Jack Leonard, the Feds have subpoenaed use of force records of all deputies who have worked in the jail since 2009.
“I was caught completely flabbergasted,” Sheriff Lee Baca said of the growing federal scrutiny of his jail system, the nation’s largest. “It’s like your best friend digs up your favorite rose bed.”
[Okay, weird image, but whatever.]
This means that the Feds are no longer engaged in a “few bad apples” kind of probe. Instead, it is all but certain that the FBI is looking at the whole landscape—going back years—to determine if there is a widespread culture of abuse at the jails—as the ACLU, WitnessLA and others are claiming.
This is a big, big step forward.
SHERIFF BACA MEETS WITH TIMES’ EDITORIAL BOARD AND SAYS HE KNEW NOTHING ABOUT JAILS ABUSE
Sheriff Lee Baca made a rather astonishing set of statements when he met with the LA Times to talk about the ever widening abuse scandal in the LA County Jails.
For the most part his answers to questions about the growing list of reports of deputies abusing jail inmates appeared to boil down to the contention that he really, really didn’t have any idea this sort of thing was going on, that his command staff hid it from him.
Here’s a clip from the Times’ story:
In a searing self-critique, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca acknowledged that he was out of touch about problems in his jails and had failed to implement important reforms that could have minimized deputy brutality against inmates.
Faced with an FBI investigation into the jail system and mounting criticism over his handling of the crisis, Baca said in a long interview with The Times that his command staff has at times left him in the dark about the jails’ woes.
“I wasn’t ignoring the jails. I just didn’t know,” Baca said. “People can say, ‘What the hell kind of leader is that?’ The truth is I should’ve known. So now I do know.”
It is good, I suppose, that the Sheriff is no longer fighting the idea the idea that there is an abuse problem, as he did as recently as the end of last month.
But this claim that he knew nothing and then blaming his subordinates is….a little hard to take.
I’ll have additional news on these and other aspects of jail abuse scandal as the week wears on.
MEANWHILE IN OTHER NEWS…
NY TIMES CALLS ON CONGRESS TO RENEW FUNDING FOR SECOND CHANCE ACT
California can save $233 million in the first year alone if we cut our prison recidivism by 10 percent reports the NY Times in their editorial on why the Second Chance Act must be funded. Here’s the opening:
With state prison costs driven mainly by recidivism, the federal government must do all it can to support programs like the Second Chance Act, which guides newly released prisoners to drug treatment, mental health care, housing and jobs to keep them from going right back to jail. The House, which supports continued funding, must hold fast against a Senate appropriations bill that would zero out this important program.
Of about 700,000 people released from prisons this year, more than two-thirds will be re-arrested and more than half returned to prison within three years. Even modest reductions in recidivism could yield huge savings. For example, a study released earlier this year by the Pew Charitable Trusts estimated that Texas could save $33.6 million, New York $42 million and California $233 million in the first year alone if they cut recidivism by even 10 percent. The Second Chance Act, signed into law by George W. Bush in 2008, supports re-entry services for newly released prisoners, who typically land on the street without money, skills or a place to live. The program was initially authorized at $165 million. But Congress funded it at only $25 million for fiscal 2009, $100 million for 2010 and $83 million this year.
CALIFORNIA MEDICAL ASSOCIATION SAYS IT’S TIME TO LEGALIZE POT
Slate has the story. Here’s a clip:
The California Medical Association says it’s time to legalize it.
The state’s largest doctor group questioned the medical value of marijuana but says it’s time for it to be legal and regulated like alcohol and tobacco, reports the Los Angeles Times. The group’s spokeswoman claims it is the first major medical association in the country to call for the drug’s legalization.
“CMA may be the first organization of its kind to take this position, but we won’t be the last. This was a carefully considered, deliberative decision made exclusively on medical and scientific grounds,” said Dr. James T. Hay, CMA President-Elect in a news release. “As physicians, we need to have a better understanding about the benefits and risks of medicinal cannabis so that we can provide the best care possible to our patients.”