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by Joseph Rose

Six inmates at the Washington County Community Corrections Center in Hillsboro were taken to hospitals today after breathing vapors from a construction project and suffering from breathing problems.

About 11:24 a.m., paramedics from Hillsboro Fire & Rescue arrived at the work-release facility at 260 S.W. Adams Ave. and found inmates experiencing respiratory problems outside the facility. Officials evacuated the remaining 175 inmates as a precaution.

Metro West Ambulance medics transported five women and one man to area hospitals. All were expected to be released today, said Storm Smith, a Hillsboro Fire & Rescue spokesman.

Investigators found a contractor refinishing wood floors in the facility. The workers were using wood filler containing acetone, toluene, alcohol, methyl ethyl ketone and naphtha, corrections officials said.

The work was being done in an area that was separated from the resident population by plastic tarps, they said. The contractor installed additional ventilation fans and promised to keep doors to the facility open as inmates were returned to the building shortly after 1:00 pm.

In an unprecedented move, the Michigan Legislature today passed a law declaring people detained in its jails, prisons and juvenile detention centers are not "persons" entitled to basic human rights protection.
The Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) has been repeatedly criticized for failing to stop abuses in its prisons and recently settled a federal case concerning sexual abuse of women prisoners. In the face of several other lawsuits, the Michigan Department of Corrections successfully lobbied the Michigan Legislature to declare that all people incarcerated in the state, including juveniles and pre-trial detainees, cannot seek legal redress for violations of their human rights. The result was the bill passed today.
"This effort by the state to shield itself from responsibility must be overturned immediately," said Regan E. Ralph, director of the women's rights division of Human Rights Watch. "Instead of denying prisoners their rights, Michigan needs to end the abuses in its prisons."
Both the house and the senate rushed through the bill giving the public little time to react to the proposal. The legislation amends the state's two principal civil rights laws: the persons with disabilities act and the Elliot-Larsen act protecting people from discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, ethnic origin, age, or marital status. The bill contravenes Michigan's constitution, which, consistent with international human rights principles, guarantees equal protection of the law and prohibits discrimination.
Michigan's strategy of denying abuses and stifling criticism is consistent with past practices in which MDOC denied federal investigators access to its women's prison and attacked the credibility of those documenting abuses in prisons. Human Rights Watch has issued two major reports on sexual abuse in the women's prisons in recent years. Other activists, journalists, and international monitors have also documented sexual abuse, retaliation, and discrimination in Michigan's prisons. The retroactive effect of this bill means that current lawsuits against the corrections department will in all likelihood be thrown out.

 By Mike Anton  

Consultants hired to review the county's troubled detention system recommend that 450 more guards be brought in to ensure the 'safety and security' of inmates.

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. - A guard's handgun and Taser both went off during a struggle Friday with a prisoner awaiting sentencing, but no one appeared to have been seriously injured, Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Carter said.

The struggle occurred in a holding area shoftly before Joshua P. Lindsey, 31, of Indianapolis was to appear for a sentencing hearing in Hamilton Superior Court.

"He knew that he'd been convicted. He knew that he was going back to prison on some level. And I would imagine that all of that factored into his thought process as he was facing this sentencing hearing," said Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp.

The guard, Dan Trowbridge, went to Riverview Hospital with minor facial injuries, Carter said. Employees were evacuated from the building.

"It was a very, very violent encounter with this inmate," Carter said.

Trowbridge's Glock 40 handgun fired during the struggle, but no one was hit, Carter said. The guard's Taser also went off, Carter said, but he was unsure if it hit the prisoner. Other deputies saw the struggle on a surveillance camera and subdued Lindsey.

Carter said the investigation into the incident was continuing.

Lindsey was found guilty recently of armed robbery and confinement in connection with a March robbery at a Fishers pharmacy, said his defense attorney, Andy Barker.

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina prison officials will continue to discipline inmates who perform public sex acts by dressing them in pink after a lawsuit over the policy was dismissed, officials said Friday.

Since 2005, a state Department of Corrections policy has allowed officials to discipline inmates who perform sex acts in front of officers by making them trade their customary tan jumpsuit for a pink one. One of those inmates filed a federal lawsuit in 2006, claiming officials were “placing inmates’ lives and physical well-being in danger.”

“The color ’pink’ in an all male environment no doubt causes derision and verbal and physical attacks on a person’s manhood,” wrote Sherone Nealous, who was serving a 10-year sentence for assault and battery with intent to kill. “This policy also gives correctional officers an easy avenue to label an inmate.”

In February, jurors deadlocked over whether the jumpsuit color constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and violates inmates’ civil rights, leaving it up to a judge to decide the issue. Nealous, who is now 32, was released from prison last month, and Corrections Director Jon Ozmint subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

In an order handed down Wednesday, Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Norton agreed with Ozmint, writing that the case became moot when Nealous was freed.

“There is no question that a live case or controversy existed” when Nealous filed his claim, Norton wrote. However, the “plaintiff’s release from prison renders his claim moot.”

In his ruling, Norton declined to decide if the policy violates inmates’ constitutional rights. Defending the policy in August, Ozmint argued the policy deters inmates and protects female officers. It calls for inmates to wear the pink jumpsuits up to three months.

“We don’t believe the United States Constitution protects an inmate’s right to publicly gratify himself,” Ozmint said then.

On Friday, agency spokesman Josh Gelinas said the department will keep the policy, which was changed slightly earlier this year. Prior to Nealous’ complaint, inmates could be forced to wear pink after performing any sex act behind bars, including consensual and solo ones. While the case was being litigated, Ozmint changed the policy to affect only inmates who performed sex acts in public or committed sexual misconduct against a prison staffer.

Prison officials have declined to say how many prisoners have worn the pink jumpsuit since the policy was instituted for both male and female inmates.

Nealous’ lawsuit estimated about several hundred inmates had worn pink in the first two years the policy was in effect.

No phone listing could be found for Nealous, and his attorney declined to talk about the case until he had spoken with his client.

South Carolina prisons officials will continue to punish inmates who perform sex acts by dressing them in pink after a federal judge dismissed an inmate's lawsuit over the issue.

Corrections spokesman Josh Gelinas said Friday the agency will keep using a policy that allows officials to discipline inmates who perform sex acts in front of officers by making them trade their customary tan jumpsuit in for a pink one.

Inmate Sherone Nealous sued in 2006, claiming the Corrections Department ``is placing inmates' lives and physical well-being in danger'' by making inmates wear the jumpsuits.

On Wednesday, Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Norton dismissed Nealous' claim.

Court records show Nealous was released from prison last month. His attorney declined to talk about the case until he had spoken with his client.

By MARLENE DiGIACOMO

MEDIA COURTHOUSE — The victim remained shackled Thursday and the defendant was free, but that will change after an ex-Delaware County prison correctional officer was sentenced to three to 23 months in jail for having sex with a 25-year-old female inmate earlier this year.

Michael Waters, 38, of 200 block of South Church Street, Clifton Heights, will report Monday to his former work site — the Delaware County prison, after Judge William R. Toal Jr. imposed the sentence.

“Frankly, I am appalled at this type of conduct,” said the judge. “He (Waters) certainly abused his position.”

The judge allowed Waters to remain free until Monday to allow time for him to handle personal matters, as well as to alert the prison to security concerns and possibly make arrangements for him to be moved to another facility.

Waters, who was employed with the GEO Group that was running the county prison at the time, had sexual trysts with the woman while she was on work release off the prison grounds.

As Waters was being sentenced, the dark-haired victim, who was transported from the prison, sat on one side of the courtroom staring straight ahead. The defendant’s wife, who is confined to a wheelchair, was on the other side sobbing.

Neither gave a statement in court.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Galantino recommended the jail stint, calling the sentence “appropriate” considering the charges against Waters. The defendant pleaded guilty in July to a charge of institutional sexual abuse.

“When somebody is in charge of supervising inmates and takes advantage of one as he did, it disrupts the entire system,” Galantino said outside the courtroom.

Defense attorney Ronald Smith said that Waters is the father of two sons, one of whom suffers from epilepsy. He asked the court for leniency, citing the needs of his family, as well as Waters’ cooperation from the beginning.

Waters appeared remorseful as he looked back at his wife and mother, who were in court together.

“I apologize to everybody I affected — my family and the people at work,” he said. He lamented he lost his job, is losing his home and said his family is dependent on him.

Outside the courtroom, Galantino said he sympathized with the family, but maintained that Waters should have thought about them before he committed the crime.

“It’s always amazing when someone doesn’t consider the family while committing the crime, and then at the sentencing presents their family’s needs as a reason for leniency,” said Galantino.

“It is clear he has hurt more than one victim.”

Galantino said the sentence took into consideration Waters’ cooperation.

“The (state’s recommended) guidelines could have gone higher,” he said.

Smith called the crime an “aberration” on the part of his client, stating he had a “spotless record.” The defense attorney sought a probationary term.

At the time of the plea, Galantino said there was no allegation of force.

The law provides that a person employed at a correctional institution commits a crime if there is sexual intercourse with an inmate or detainee.

Prison Superintendent John Reilly Jr. said that Waters had been employed since Nov. 16, 1998, with the GEO Group. He was earning $16 an hour at the time he was terminated last March, after the charges surfaced.

Waters was arrested after the female inmate told authorities that while she was on work release, she and Waters would hook up off of the prison grounds. She told investigators she first met Waters while he was patrolling at the prison and she told him where she would be working that day. He replied, “Maybe I’ll stop by,” according to a court document.

She said Waters picked her up on at least four occasions for sex between Feb. 25 and March 20, according to the court document.

By Torsten Ove

Allegheny County yesterday became the 42nd Pennsylvania county to join a computer network to help victims of crime track the status of jail inmates.

The Statewide Automated Victim Information & Notification system, or SAVIN, allows residents to receive real-time information about inmates around the clock.

Victims and their families who sign up for the free service will now be notified by a phone call or e-mail of an offender's release, transfer or escape from custody.

A similar system already exists for state prisoners through the Office of Victim Advocate.

Residents have also long been able to track state inmates on the Department of Corrections Web site. Likewise, federal prisoners can be tracked on the U.S. Bureau of Prisons site.

But the SAVIN system, paid for by a $1.25 million U.S. Justice Department grant, covers county inmates and offers the added security of notification within 15 minutes of an offender's release from custody.

"As soon as an inmate is entered into our system, it automatically interfaces with the software," said Warden Ramon Rustin.

B.J. Horn, director of victim services at the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, said the network provides peace of mind.

"For some victims," she said, "being able to check on a prisoner's status before going to bed, or on the anniversary of the crime, is the difference between going to sleep that night or staying up to pace the floor."

SAVIN is being run by Kentucky-based Appriss Inc., which launched the nation's first victim-notification service, called VINE, in 1994 following the murder of 21-year-old Mary Byron the year before in Louisville.

She had been stalked and raped by a former boyfriend. He went to jail but was released on bond. Ms. Byron didn't know he was out.

On Dec. 6, 1993, he approached her car and shot her to death.

The murder stunned Louisville but also galvanized local officials and software engineers into action.

Appriss, which in 2000 provided seed money for the Mary Byron Foundation charity, now runs the VINELink Web site used in 34 states.

In Pennsylvania, Centre County was the first to use the technology on its own in 2005. Last year, Erie County was the first to join under the Justice Department grant program.

By Paula Horton

Caldwell, Idaho -- Several Canyon County inmates are out of jail due to overcrowding problems at the facility.

In a special court hearing Wednesday, prosecutors worked with the Public Defender's office to offer sentences of "time served" if inmates wanted to plead guilty to the charges they were facing.

Most of those charges were for things like failing to purchase a driver's license or driving under the influence -- all misdemeanors. Seventeen inmates took the county up on the offer. Their sentences ranged from nine to 56 days in jail to time they'd already served.

Inmates currently being held on immigration detainees will be picked up by immigration officers to make more room in the facility.

The Canyon County Jail has been above official capacity since 1998 and a bond for a new jail