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| Ninety-five High-risk Inmates Freed From Indiana Jail |
| By Indianapolis Star |
| Published: 07/30/2002 |
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When Marion County, Ind., Sheriff's Department deputies served a search warrant at the home of suspected drug dealer Benjamin Hampton, he fought back. Hampton ran into a bedroom and reached for a gun on the nightstand; he struggled with a deputy and tried to take the officer's shotgun; and he reached under his mattress for another loaded handgun before officers finally got him in handcuffs, according to court documents detailing the May 20 search. But Hampton, 26, walked out of the Marion County Jail last week, one of 95 high-risk inmates freed by Marion Superior Court Judge William Young in the ongoing effort to keep the facility from becoming overcrowded. Young called the inmate releases 'intolerable' and promised to become more and more vocal until county officials decide to build more jail space. The judge said he didn't have a good answer to explain why he suddenly let so many dangerous criminals go. Seven inmates who had charges pending elsewhere were transferred; six others were released to the custody of the state parole office; the rest walked without having to post any bond. All of the released inmates had been accused of drug crimes and were facing charges in Young's court -- 70 of them had been ordered held without bond. Hampton had been held on $80,000 bond. Young said the people he released were on balance less dangerous than the robbers, repeat drunken drivers and identity thieves who routinely get freed in order to keep the jail's population in check. There have been 2,853 inmates freed since September as county officials struggle to follow a federal judge's order to maintain humane conditions at the jail and lockup. There is room for about 2,100 inmates who are newly arrested, awaiting trial or already sentenced. |
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