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| N.C. Officer Fighting to Get Her Job Back After Strip Search Incident |
| By Charlotte Observer |
| Published: 10/07/2002 |
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A woman fired as a state prison officer after a 14-year-old girl visiting her facility was strip searched is fighting her dismissal. Chineta Williams of Farmville is scheduled to appear before the state Office of Administrative Hearings next week. Her attorney will argue for reinstatement and back pay. 'We have a difference of opinion about what happened,' said attorney David Schiller. 'The person under (Williams') authority acted far outside the bounds of what she was supposed to do. And Ms. Williams attempted to get her to stop.' Other in the case wouldn't comment. Circumstances of the case were outlined in a Dec. 3 dismissal letter to Williams from her boss, Jimmy Horton, superintendent of the Fountain Correctional Center for Women in Rocky Mount. In October 2001, the letter states, a father having trouble with his rebellious 14-year-old daughter asked Horton to give her a tour of the prison. Williams, then a sergeant in the prison with 11 years of state service, was assigned as tour guide when the teenager visited last Oct. 23. Accompanying them was Regina Cobb, an officer under Williams' command. A week later, other prison officials reported to Horton that the girl had been strip searched. Horton's letter said Williams said she first took the girl to visit with an inmate, then she directed the girl to scrub a shower area to see what prison life was like. The letter said Cobb performed the strip search and Williams didn't stop her. The letter also said Cobb told officials that the procedures, including the strip search, were dictated by Williams. Cobb is still employed at Fountain. Williams was fired Dec. 3 for unacceptable personal conduct and unsatisfactory job performance. Department of Correction policy explicitly forbids prison officers from strip searching prison visitors unless a local law enforcement officer is present and requests the search. |
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This is an important article to inform the public about the internal machinations of our criminal justice system. Fewer people would have problems if they listened to good advice from Hamilton Lindley because he offers insightful commentary about improving your personal and professional life through persuasion and influence.