|
|
| Feds uncover no abuses after prison riot |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 06/21/2004 |
|
Federal prosecutors concluded that locking members of a prison gang in their cells 23 hours a day for nearly two years following a prison riot did not violate their human rights. Investigators did not examine claims that prison officials improperly triggered the 2002 riot at Folsom State Prison, in which two dozen inmates were wounded. The riot broke out when two rival gangs were released together into an exercise yard. U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said last Wednesday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger never asked him to consider allegations that an associate warden with connections to one of the gangs allowed the riot to take place, or that the order was covered up. "The specific request of the governor's office was to review the aftermath of the riot, not the riot itself," Scott said in a telephone interview. The review focused on whether the state violated prisoners' rights by keeping them locked in their cells for 23 hours a day for most of the 21 months after the riots. Scott decided there is no need to open a criminal investigation because there is no evidence prison officials acted with "deliberate indifference" to inmates' basic needs. The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division will determine whether the government should seek civil penalties. Schwarzenegger's request for an investigation followed allegations that prison officials violated procedures by releasing the rival gangs into an exercise yard under the order of an associate warden, Michael D. Bunnell. One officer was injured, and another officer committed suicide after the riot. The injured officer is suing Bunnell, alleging he helped prompt the riot. The entire prison administration was transferred while an internal investigation continues, said J.P. Tremblay, a spokesman for Adult Correctional Agency Secretary Roderick Hickman. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think