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| California's prison officers fight back - in court |
| By Los Angeles Times |
| Published: 03/08/2004 |
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For years, California's prison officers have been frustrated by a growing number of inmate assaults. Now they want their attackers to pay. Fed up with a prison discipline system they find ineffectual, corrections officers are starting to sue inmates to collect personal damages. The idea is to target any assets the inmates hold outside of prison -- or, in the case of poor inmates, whatever possessions they keep on the inside, such as TVs, hot plates and petty-cash "trust" accounts used to buy snacks. "One has to remember that it's not about the money, it's about holding these convicted felons accountable for their actions," state corrections Lt. Charles Hughes wrote on the Web site of an employees group organizing the suits. "It may be small potatoes to you and me, but ask an inmate if he wants you to own his trust account." As news of the strategy spreads around California, prisoner advocates are deriding it as excessively cruel. Some attorneys say the suits could entangle the courts in a costly web of hearings, appeals and counterclaims. "This is incredibly mean-spirited," said John Scott, a San Francisco attorney who represents inmates' families and prison employees in civil matters. For the legal system, Scott added, "It's a Pandora's box." The lawsuits come at a tumultuous time for California's prison system, and especially for its corrections officers. Their union, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, is under scrutiny for exerting excessive influence on the nation's largest penal system, and in January a federal report concluded that a systemwide "code of silence" existed to protect problem officers. The union is taking no position on the new strategy, and Corrections Department spokesmen refused to comment on it. |
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