October 11, 2008
Reinstatement of Corrections Employees Upheld
The Third District Court of Appeal yesterday upheld the state Personnel Board's decision to reinstate six correctional employees who were fired for their roles in a videotaped beating of two inmates at a California youth prison.
Ruling in an unpublished decision that the video alone did not provide a basis to reject an administrative law judge's findings that the employees did not use excessive force in the 2004 incident or lie to cover it up, the court held that a trial judge erred when he ordered the board to set aside its decision and conduct a new hearing.
In a case that drew national attention, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation fired four youth counselors and two correctional officers from the Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility in Stockton after the release of the video, accusing them of misconduct in their response to—and subsequent statements regarding—a struggle which occurred after the inmates attacked two of the counselors…
LINK - MetNews.com (The Metropolitan News-Enterprise)
