Prison Abuse,Police Shootings,Curruption And Big Settlements

May 30, 2012 Suit Alleges Placer County Sheriff's Deputy Shot Man In Back As He Ran Away "A man who admits he stole seven lottery tickets claims Placer County Sheriff's Deputy Van Bogardus shot him three times in the back as he ran away, in Superior Court." Pautov v. Placer County Civil Complaint, 5/25/12, No. 12-cv-1424-KJM. Courthouse News, 5/29/12 ------------------------------------------- Sacramento County Cuts Funding On Inmate Rehabilitation Sacramento County officials voted unanimously Thursday to further reduce spending on rehabilitation for inmates sentenced under a new state law. The Community Corrections Partnership amended the Sheriff Department's budget for the fiscal year by reducing expenditures for inmate services from $500,000 to $122,000 and put the difference toward jail costs. The shift further tilts the county's budget for handling new offenders from the state toward incarceration instead of rehabilitation. Sacramento Bee, 5/4/12 ---------------------------------------- Sacramento County Pays $150,000 To Settle Jail Lawsuit Even though he was a regular, Marvin Orr was never able to get a bottom bunk when he checked into the Sacramento County Main Jail. Now, it has wound up costing the taxpayers $150,000 to make his federal lawsuit against the county go away. According to the legal action, Orr suffers from arthritis and attendant joint problems so severe that he gets disability benefits, uses a cane to ambulate and is on a variety of pain medicines and other medications. At the time of the incident, his degenerating hips needed to be replaced, and he was a diabetic taking medicine to hold off seizures. He checked into the jail on Dec. 8, 2008, and took a spill from his upper bunk that same day, causing head injuries and loss of consciousness for a time. A jail special-needs form dated the next day reiterated the importance of a lower bunk and tier, and noted that Orr had to have a cane to get around and a wheelchair for transportation to court. But the system is entrenched, so he remained on a top bunk, and less than a week later took the header that broke his leg and led to the lawsuit. This time he hit his head on the metal toilet. Rather than immediately taking Orr to the hospital for proper evaluation and treatment, he was instead propped up in a wheelchair, the suit alleges. He spent several days in the wheelchair in the so-called medical wing sitting in his own waste. His frequent pleas for urgent medical attention were ignored. After other inmates and at least one correctional officer aggressively lobbied for action, Orr was transported on Dec. 16 to the UC Davis Medical Center, where he had surgery on his broken leg and remained for 10 days. Planned hip replacement surgery had to be postponed. After Orr fell last month while climbing the stairs to his cell on an upper tier, his attorney, Stewart Katz, says he spoke to a ranking Sheriff's Department officer at the jail, to the county counsel's office, and the county's outside litigation counsel in an effort to assure Orr a bottom bunk and lower tier. After Katz spoke to a jail watch commander, Orr was moved to a lower tier, but nothing else changed, the attorney said. His client occupied a top bunk during his stay last month, even as the county was cutting a $150,000 check. --------------------------------------------------------- March 31, 2012 Is Real Change Coming To California's Use Of Long-Term Solitary Confinement? Today's New York Times has a piece about potential changes to California's policy of using long-term solitary confinement in prisons to isolate suspected gang members: Ernesto Lira is not a murderer. He has never participated in a prison riot. The crime that landed him behind bars was carrying three foil-wrapped grams of methamphetamine in his car. But on the basis of evidence that a federal court later deemed unreliable, prison officials labeled Mr. Lira a gang member and sent him to the super-maximum-security unit at Pelican Bay State Prison, the state’s toughest correctional institution. There, for eight years, he spent 23 or more hours a day in a windowless 7.6-by-11.6-foot cell, allowed out for showers and exercise. His view through the perforated steel door — there were 2,220 holes; he counted them — was a blank wall, his companions a family of spiders that he watched grow, “season by season, year by year.” Mr. Lira insisted that he was not a gang member, to no avail. He was eventually vindicated and is now out of prison, but he still struggles with the legacy of his solitary confinement. He suffers from depression and avoids crowds. At night, he puts blankets over the windows to block out any light. “He’s not the same person at all,” said his sister Luzie Harville. “Whatever happened, the experience he had in there changed him.” California has for decades used long-term segregation to combat gang violence in its prisons — a model also used by states like Arizona with significant gang problems. Thousands of inmates said to have gang ties have been sent to units like that at Pelican Bay, where they remain for years, or in some cases decades. But California corrections officials — prodded by two hunger strikes by inmates at Pelican Bay last year and the advice of national prison experts — this month proposed changes in the state’s gang policy that could decrease the number of inmates in isolation. Depending on how aggressively California moves forward — critics say that the changes do not go far enough and have enough loopholes that they may have little effect — it could join a small but increasing number of states that are rethinking the use of long-term solitary confinement, a practice that had become common in this country over the past three decades. ----------------------- Aug, 03, 2012 Women In Alleged Assault By Modesto Officer Files Claim An attorney has filed a claim against the city seeking $4 million in damages for the woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by a Modesto police officer in January. The tort claim filed last week says the Jan. 5 incident caused the woman to suffer bodily injury and extreme emotional distress, and that the victim is entitled to damages for economic and noneconomic losses. This type of action typically is a forerunner to a lawsuit. Modesto City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood confirmed the claim was received at City Hall on Wednesday. "We are reviewing it and will proceed accordingly," she said, declining further comment. Fresno attorney Jacob Rivas, who specializes in civil rights cases, filed the claim against former officer Lee Freddie Gaines II, the Police Department and the city. He said he is seeking multimillion dollars in damages because of the severity of the claimed offense against his client. As you can imagine, when you have a sexual assault, it takes a heavy toll on the victim emotionally and physically," Rivas said. City officials have 45 days to decide whether to accept or reject the claim. If it's rejected, Rivas said he expects to bring a lawsuit on behalf of his client, most likely in federal court. Modesto Bee, 4/2/12; Claim for Damages. -------------------------------------------------- Sacramento County Pays $75,000 To Settle Jail Beating Lawsuit For full story with photos and video, see Denny Walsh's story in the Sacramento Bee, 8/12/12.