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An Avalanche of Distortions (EDITORIAL)by Patti Sewall, Editor of PEACEKeeperIn May 2002, the Texas-based Cornell Companies - a prison privateer with two private facilities in California - released a 13-page Internet memo they called "a summary of the prison guards' contract." Well, at 13 pages, it was hardly a summary of anything, and, worse, it couldn't have been more inaccurate, according to then-DPA Director Marty Morgenstern. He found the memo to be a pack of lies, "an avalanche of distortions," and said so in a commentary he wrote for the Peacekeeper denouncing the memo as a "sleazy campaign." Morgenstern said the memo was designed to mislead the public, for obvious motives, and was naturally outraged since he was the person responsible for negotiating that contract. "Let's get one thing clear up front," Morgenstern wrote, "the law requires us to offer pay packages to state law enforcement officers that are competitive with local law enforcement. Unlike prior administrations that ignored this law, the Davis Administration supports it." The memo contained "wildly exaggerated" claims, according to Morgenstern, such as the one that stated the Unit Six contract gives the employees the most lucrative retirement benefit in the nation. "That's absurd," Morgenstern wrote. "In California alone there are over 200 local law enforcement agencies that already offer the identical retirement benefit." It was encouraging, for a change, to have someone in his position standing up for truth. But the damage had been done, and who knows how many people took the politically-charged Cornell Internet memo as truth. Just as with the recent factually-challenged Legislative Analysts' Office report, and so many other critical and critically-timed media reports, CCPOA is constantly fighting the uphill battle with those who are politically motivated to discredit the state's hardworking correctional peace officers. Though government's absolute first priority is to protect its citizens, when you throw enough money and power into the mix some individuals cannot be trusted to maintain the high road and do the right thing. Eventually, some will jump at the chance to advance their own agendas. In closing his commentary, Morgenstern wrote, "Misleading the public on law enforcement salaries has unfortunate consequences that go beyond politics. Undermining public confidence in law enforcement is one of them. Their smear campaign blurred the truth about the vital function our correctional officers perform and the risks they face daily to protect us from the criminals we lock up." Couldn't have said it better myself.  Print This PageBack to Volume 25, Issue 3 Back to PEACEKeeper Main Page |
