With Florida inmates dying of starvation, medical neglect and violence in increasing numbers, outpacing other states, we must push Tom Wheeler to be as good as his word, without any delay … a new bill intends to impose harsh new mandatory minimum sentences that will increase prison populations , and a new lawsuit intends to hold the Florida Department of Corrections accountable for mistreatment of disabled inmates only.
Rick Scott hasn’t missed an opportunity to unjustly enrich corporations at constituents’ expense that I’m aware of … he will likely sign the odious bill. Our already-understaffed facilities will immediately become exponentially more dangerous, and they are already quite deserving of a new level of Dante’s Inferno.
Attorneys, advocates, the general public and the mainstream media will continue to seek protection and justice for some inmates, on a one-by-one basis or limited group basis.
While advocates and private citizens can be forgiven for not knowing that feds – specifically the FBI and DoJ – are supposed to step in the minute it comes to their attention that an inmate’s rights have been violated, attorneys and the mainstream media can never be forgiven for rather consistently concealing that indeed the FBI and DoJ are supposed to swoop in when they’re aware that an inmate have been starved, neglected, abused or murdered.
Attorneys take oaths to be officers of the court, a “see something, say something” sworn obligation with only contrived escape clauses, none rooted in substance. The mainstream media collects subscription money to provide actual news, a “see something, say something” fiduciary obligation that, too, has only contrived escape clauses.
What attorneys and the mainstream seem to want – despite the spirit and intent of their sworn and fiduciary responsibilities – is a world where only their financial and personal interests matter.
Rick Scott is an attorney; a significant number of Florida legislators are, too.
If your mind is searching for a phrase that ties the whole of this “see something, say nothing, make everything worse, for personal gain” scenario together, I’m pretty sure it’s “conspiracy to violate rights.”
Former Correctional Officer in West Virginia Pleads Guilty to Using Force to Punish A Detainee
Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen of the Northern District of West Virginia jointly announced that a former Elkins, West Virginia Correctional Officer, Adam Joseph Neal Graham, 26, pleaded guilty today in federal court to a civil rights violation for an incident in which he assaulted a handcuffed pretrial detainee.
According to information provided in connection with his guilty plea, Graham was serving as a Correctional Officer at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on March 9, 2015, when he assisted with the intake screening for the victim, an 18 year-old pretrial detainee. This was the victim’s first arrest. The detainee was handcuffed, sitting on a chair, and acting distraught. Graham told the detainee to “be quiet” several times. Even though the detainee posed no threat to Graham or any other person, Graham applied pressure points to the victim’s shoulder and neck area. Then, suddenly and without warning, Graham grabbed the detainee by the neck and forcefully slammed him to the ground. During the plea hearing, Graham acknowledged that his use of force was not justified by any legitimate law enforcement or correctional objective.
“The U.S. Constitution protects every person in this country, including those who are detained in our jails,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Wheeler. “The federal government will actively prosecute those correctional officers, who like the defendant, abuse their authority and violate their oath by unlawfully utilizing physical force as a form of punishment.”
[emphasis added]
The FBI’s Pittsburgh Division investigated the case. Special Litigation Counsel Gerard V. Hogan and Trial Attorney Olimpia E. Michel of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah W. Montoro of the Northern District of West Virginia prosecuted the case.
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