Post by skyloom on Mar 27, 2006 9:08:18 GMT -5
By LEE WILLIAMS and ESTEBAN PARRA
The News Journal
03/27/2006
Inmates are celebrating news that the federal government is investigating medical care inside Delaware prisons, while guards are wondering how the Department of Correction will cover up its problems, says Karl Paolini, a veteran correctional officer working at the Sussex Correctional Institution near Georgetown.
Now that the U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation of Delaware's prison medical system -- a process that could take years to complete -- Paolini says medical staffers are working weekends, catching up on procedures that went largely ignored for years.
"They're catching up on physicals, since they haven't done any for a long time," he said. "They're ... rushing them through."
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A prison guard for more than 16 years, Paolini admits he has been disciplined by prison managers in the past and was fired in the early 1990s after starting an underground newspaper for guards. He contested the firing in a lawsuit, however, and won reinstatement and back pay.
He said he's willing to risk his career to give the public a better understanding of what goes on in Delaware prisons.
Delaware Attorney General Carl Danberg has not heard allegations of documents being destroyed or falsified, a practice he said could violate state law. Correction Commissioner Stan Taylor did not respond to calls and e-mails seeking comment for this story.
It's rare for the Justice Department to examine an entire state prison system. Usually, federal regulators focus on individual institutions -- county jails, juvenile detention centers and municipal lockups.
Corrections officials elsewhere who have weathered a Justice Department probe say Delaware is in for a long and expensive ride.
They recommend launching immediate improvements to the prison system.
"We spent millions of dollars on attorneys and consultants, with no measurable results for years," said Steve Shular, spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department in Memphis, Tenn.
After more than six years of legal scrutiny and a host of improvements, Shelby County was released from federal oversight last June.
Focus on safety, care
Shular said the outcome was worth the effort.
"It was definitely positive," he said. "It told the community we were serious about the well-being of people housed in our jails. There's sometimes a community mind-set of why should we care about inmates, until someone they know lands in jail. Then there's an immediate focus on safety and care."
U.S. Attorney Colm F. Connolly asked the Justice Department to investigate the state's Department of Correction after a News Journal series revealed inmate death rates -- specifically AIDS-related and suicide -- to be far above the national norm.
The federal prison investigators in Delaware don't take individual cases. Under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, they determine whether poor medical care constitutes a "pattern or practice" of civil rights abuse.
The investigation involves visits, interviews with staff members and tips from the public, inmates and their families -- many of whom already are preparing information for the investigators.
Danberg would like to be the liaison between the Justice Department and the Department of Correction. As of last week, he had neither met with federal officials nor received requests for documents.
"I'm not going to say anything that compromises the state's position in litigation," Danberg said. "That's what the DOJ will try to determine."
His office is required by statute to defend the state's interests. However, if a correction official is found to have violated the law, he would receive private attorneys at state expense.
Danberg said any such violations would surface during the process.
In the early 1990s, the Shelby County Jail was out of control. The inmates were in charge. The guards stayed out of their way.
"The Shelby County Jail had fallen under control of inmate gangs," Shular said. "Security and the staff were at risk."
Things came to a head in September 1995.
An inmate was repeatedly raped by three gang members.
There was no guard present to stop the sexual assaults.
The inmate sued the sheriff and Shelby County in federal court. The federal judge ordered improvements made to the facility, but they were slow in coming.
In 2000, the Justice Department launched an investigation, pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act.
Federal investigators toured the four county facilities, along with a host of consultants, experts in security, health care, mental health and safety. They interviewed staff members, inmates and administrators and reviewed documents, including the recent court case.
Shelby County was impressed by the investigators' expertise.
"Anybody with the Department of Justice has established their credentials. They're charged with overseeing safety and inmate needs all over the country," Shular said. "We joined them in their concerns."
Inmates in Shelby County, the investigators wrote in their report, faced "an unconstitutional threat of violence from attacks by other inmates."
The regulators found that jail officials failed to properly classify and supervise inmates. In addition, they discovered deficiencies with medical and mental health care, and access to courts.
Settled
Rather than facing the possibility of a federal suit, county officials signed a 104-point settlement agreement with the federal government.
In addition, a new sheriff, elected to office in 2002, assembled his own experts to fix the troubled jails.
"We put together a team that met every week, which we still do, that looked at priorities and made a status report," Shular said. "The sheriff made the commitment to be in the jails, often at a moment's notice, and immediately got the staff to correct errors."
The courts assigned a special master to oversee the reforms, whose salary the county was ordered to pay.
"He's an accountability factor," Shular said. "All the paperwork was sent to him. Afterwards, he was kept on. Now, he's a part of our team."
The Shelby County jail team developed a "jail report card" -- a monthly accounting of all aspects of confinement -- from the number of inmates serving time, to assaults of staff, to the number of meals served in the chow hall. It's available to the public online.
"It looks at all indicators and lets us know whether we're operating the jail in a safe and efficient manner," Shular said. "We have to consider whether we're meeting our inmates' needs. It's a question asked by every family member and staff."
Local concerns
Abdullah G. Hubbard is an inmate serving as president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Prison Branch No. 2032, at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna.
In a written release sent from prison, Hubbard supports the federal investigation and hopes the regulators interview inmates.
"Otherwise, the status quo will remain, and the public pendulum will once again swing back to the mind-set of 'lock them up and throw away the key,' " he wrote.
Ray Moore, a nurse-anesthetist working at Kent General, is worried about his son James A.M. Trowbridge. Trowbridge, who is serving time for drugs and traffic charges, is suffering from an undiagnosed kidney ailment that remains untreated.
"This investigation is an excellent idea," Moore said. "I don't understand what goes on in these prisons. While the whole place is an absolute disaster, the infirmaries are the worst of all."
Contact investigative reporter Lee Williams at 324-2362 or lwilliams@delawareonline.com. Contact Esteban Parra at 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.
The News Journal
03/27/2006
Inmates are celebrating news that the federal government is investigating medical care inside Delaware prisons, while guards are wondering how the Department of Correction will cover up its problems, says Karl Paolini, a veteran correctional officer working at the Sussex Correctional Institution near Georgetown.
Now that the U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation of Delaware's prison medical system -- a process that could take years to complete -- Paolini says medical staffers are working weekends, catching up on procedures that went largely ignored for years.
"They're catching up on physicals, since they haven't done any for a long time," he said. "They're ... rushing them through."
Advertisement
A prison guard for more than 16 years, Paolini admits he has been disciplined by prison managers in the past and was fired in the early 1990s after starting an underground newspaper for guards. He contested the firing in a lawsuit, however, and won reinstatement and back pay.
He said he's willing to risk his career to give the public a better understanding of what goes on in Delaware prisons.
Delaware Attorney General Carl Danberg has not heard allegations of documents being destroyed or falsified, a practice he said could violate state law. Correction Commissioner Stan Taylor did not respond to calls and e-mails seeking comment for this story.
It's rare for the Justice Department to examine an entire state prison system. Usually, federal regulators focus on individual institutions -- county jails, juvenile detention centers and municipal lockups.
Corrections officials elsewhere who have weathered a Justice Department probe say Delaware is in for a long and expensive ride.
They recommend launching immediate improvements to the prison system.
"We spent millions of dollars on attorneys and consultants, with no measurable results for years," said Steve Shular, spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department in Memphis, Tenn.
After more than six years of legal scrutiny and a host of improvements, Shelby County was released from federal oversight last June.
Focus on safety, care
Shular said the outcome was worth the effort.
"It was definitely positive," he said. "It told the community we were serious about the well-being of people housed in our jails. There's sometimes a community mind-set of why should we care about inmates, until someone they know lands in jail. Then there's an immediate focus on safety and care."
U.S. Attorney Colm F. Connolly asked the Justice Department to investigate the state's Department of Correction after a News Journal series revealed inmate death rates -- specifically AIDS-related and suicide -- to be far above the national norm.
The federal prison investigators in Delaware don't take individual cases. Under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, they determine whether poor medical care constitutes a "pattern or practice" of civil rights abuse.
The investigation involves visits, interviews with staff members and tips from the public, inmates and their families -- many of whom already are preparing information for the investigators.
Danberg would like to be the liaison between the Justice Department and the Department of Correction. As of last week, he had neither met with federal officials nor received requests for documents.
"I'm not going to say anything that compromises the state's position in litigation," Danberg said. "That's what the DOJ will try to determine."
His office is required by statute to defend the state's interests. However, if a correction official is found to have violated the law, he would receive private attorneys at state expense.
Danberg said any such violations would surface during the process.
In the early 1990s, the Shelby County Jail was out of control. The inmates were in charge. The guards stayed out of their way.
"The Shelby County Jail had fallen under control of inmate gangs," Shular said. "Security and the staff were at risk."
Things came to a head in September 1995.
An inmate was repeatedly raped by three gang members.
There was no guard present to stop the sexual assaults.
The inmate sued the sheriff and Shelby County in federal court. The federal judge ordered improvements made to the facility, but they were slow in coming.
In 2000, the Justice Department launched an investigation, pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act.
Federal investigators toured the four county facilities, along with a host of consultants, experts in security, health care, mental health and safety. They interviewed staff members, inmates and administrators and reviewed documents, including the recent court case.
Shelby County was impressed by the investigators' expertise.
"Anybody with the Department of Justice has established their credentials. They're charged with overseeing safety and inmate needs all over the country," Shular said. "We joined them in their concerns."
Inmates in Shelby County, the investigators wrote in their report, faced "an unconstitutional threat of violence from attacks by other inmates."
The regulators found that jail officials failed to properly classify and supervise inmates. In addition, they discovered deficiencies with medical and mental health care, and access to courts.
Settled
Rather than facing the possibility of a federal suit, county officials signed a 104-point settlement agreement with the federal government.
In addition, a new sheriff, elected to office in 2002, assembled his own experts to fix the troubled jails.
"We put together a team that met every week, which we still do, that looked at priorities and made a status report," Shular said. "The sheriff made the commitment to be in the jails, often at a moment's notice, and immediately got the staff to correct errors."
The courts assigned a special master to oversee the reforms, whose salary the county was ordered to pay.
"He's an accountability factor," Shular said. "All the paperwork was sent to him. Afterwards, he was kept on. Now, he's a part of our team."
The Shelby County jail team developed a "jail report card" -- a monthly accounting of all aspects of confinement -- from the number of inmates serving time, to assaults of staff, to the number of meals served in the chow hall. It's available to the public online.
"It looks at all indicators and lets us know whether we're operating the jail in a safe and efficient manner," Shular said. "We have to consider whether we're meeting our inmates' needs. It's a question asked by every family member and staff."
Local concerns
Abdullah G. Hubbard is an inmate serving as president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Prison Branch No. 2032, at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna.
In a written release sent from prison, Hubbard supports the federal investigation and hopes the regulators interview inmates.
"Otherwise, the status quo will remain, and the public pendulum will once again swing back to the mind-set of 'lock them up and throw away the key,' " he wrote.
Ray Moore, a nurse-anesthetist working at Kent General, is worried about his son James A.M. Trowbridge. Trowbridge, who is serving time for drugs and traffic charges, is suffering from an undiagnosed kidney ailment that remains untreated.
"This investigation is an excellent idea," Moore said. "I don't understand what goes on in these prisons. While the whole place is an absolute disaster, the infirmaries are the worst of all."
Contact investigative reporter Lee Williams at 324-2362 or lwilliams@delawareonline.com. Contact Esteban Parra at 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.