Lawsuit
September 14, 2011
CCA settles (another) multi-million $$ lawsuit by police officer shot 5 times by CCA escapees
Former Metro Police Sgt. Mark Chesnut has settled a lawsuit against a private prison company that housed an inmate who escaped and then shot him five times.
Chesnut sued Corrections Corporation of America, accusing the company of being negligent in its supervision of Joseph Jackson Jr., a Mississippi prisoner who escaped during a medical visit. Chesnut’s lawsuit asked for $16.5 million in damages resulting from physical and emotional pain for him and his wife.
Chesnut’s attorney, David Raybin, said the former sergeant would not comment and he declined to discuss the amount of the settlement...
LINK - Tennessean.com
September 12, 2011
Quakers file suit against private prison contracts
A Quaker group filed suit Monday to block the state from awarding any more contracts for private prisons, at least for the time being.
The lawsuit points out the Department of Corrections is supposed to award a contract for 5,000 additional private prison beds as early as the end of the week. Four companies have been chosen as finalists.
GEO Group, whose world headquarters is located in Boca Raton, Fla., has a bid for sites at the Yuma Prison for 2,000 or 3,000 beds. Management and Training Corp., from Centerville, Utah, has a bid for sites in Yuma for 3,000 beds...
LINK - YumaSun.com
August 26, 2011
Lawsuit filed over Ohio plan to privatize 5 state prisons
A liberal policy group that previously sued over Gov. John Kasich's privatization of Ohio's economic development functions has filed a similar lawsuit challenging privatization of five state prisons.
ProgressOhio and several prison employees filed the action Thursday in Franklin County.
The lawsuit alleges selling state-owned prisons to private contractors is unconstitutional. It seeks to prevent the state from proceeding with the sales or to block layoffs. It also wants workers at privatized prisons declared public employees...
LINK - BusinessWeek.com
August 19, 2011
Justices hear CCPOA ‘self-directed’ furlough case
The arguments are in. Now a panel of appellate justices must decide whether the state illegally furloughed some 32,000 correctional officers by cutting their pay by up to 15 percent per month but deferring the commensurate time off.
In documents filed in San Francisco's 1st District Court of Appeal and during courtroom debate on Thursday, lawyers for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association said the so-called "self-directed" furloughs were an illegal pay cut...
LINK - SacBee.com
August 4, 2011
CCPOA UPL case in the news
Attorneys for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association have until Sept. 12 to file an opening brief in the $4.4 million union paid leave lawsuit the state has brought against the union, according to an appellate court notice posted this week.
The suit involves money CCPOA allegedly owes as reimbursement to the state for wages and benefits paid to members who were on leave so they could engage in union business.
The union says the matter should go to arbitration. Their argument relies on the union's collective bargaining agreement, which expired in 2006 and wasn't picked up again until earlier this year...
LINK - SacBee.com (The State Worker)
March 24, 2011
Judgment against CCPOA reduced
A federal judge has reduced a $10 million punitive damages award leveled against the California Correctional Peace Officers Association last year, although the plaintiffs in the case can appeal the reduction or seek a new trial that focuses on what the award should be.
Sacramento Federal Court Judge Lawrence Karlton rendered the decision last week, cutting what was a total $12.5 million decision against CCPOA -- compensatory and punitive damages awards combined -- to about $5 million.
The decision is the latest turn in Dawe v. Corrections USA, CCPOA, et al. Last October a jury unanimously found that CCPOA had spread falsehoods about Brian Dawe, a founder and former executive director/treasurer of Auburn-based Corrections USA...
LINK - SacBee.com
March 23, 2011
Feds ends oversight of Madrid lawsuit
A legal case that lasted more than two decades and brought systemic changes to California's prison system has ended. On Monday, a federal judge determined the state corrections department had made sufficient reforms to protect inmates from being abused by guards.
Those reforms stemmed from a class-action lawsuit filed in 1990 over claims of widespread physical abuse, poor medical and mental health care, and appalling conditions in the prison’s notorious security housing unit. The case exposed widespread abuses and forced major reforms within California prisons. The changes include policies that limit guards’ use of force and protections for mentally ill inmates. The lawsuit also prompted the state to create an independent inspector general in the corrections department and an office to oversee investigations of alleged employee wrongdoing...
LINK - KQED.org
March 3, 2011
Unions ask Alameda Superior Court judge to stop furloughs
Five of six state employee unions without contracts whose members are furloughed three days per month have asked an Alameda Superior Court judge to stop the policy.
Professional Engineers in California Government, California Association of Professional Scientists, California Correctional Peace Officers' Association and California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges, and Hearing Officers in State Employment are the union plaintiffs in the lawsuit now before Judge Steven Brick.
The Association of California State Supervisors, which speaks on behalf of management-level exempt workers, is also a party to the lawsuit...
LINK - SacBee.com (The State Worker)
January 14, 2011
CCPOA furlough lawsuit rejected by federal court
A judge in San Francisco has struck down a class action lawsuit over correctional officer furloughs that alleged the policy violates federal labor laws. The case is the first furlough litigation orally argued by state attorneys since Gov. Jerry Brown took office on Jan. 3.
"We are disappointed in the court's ruling today and will be reviewing the decision to determine what steps to take next." said Ryan Sherman, spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which backed the lawsuit.
The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker comes just one day after arguments in Newton v. Schwarzenegger. The case argued that "self-directed" furloughs of correctional officers violated the Fair Labors Standards Act. The case applied only to members of Bargaining Unit 6...
LINK - SacBee.com
January 13, 2011
Federal furlough case set for hearing today
Newton v. Schwarzenegger is set for hearing in San Francisco's U.S. District Court today at 10 a.m.
The class-action case, which applies only to members of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, is challenging furloughs as a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The arguments in this December 2009 complaint include:
- Cutting pay but deferring the furlough time off violates the law because employees aren't paid in full for hours worked within a given pay cycle.
- Time worked on an unpaid furlough day should be calculated in figuring overtime.
- The state hasn't kept adequate payroll records...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 17, 2010
Feds settle suit over medical care at immigration jail
A federal lawsuit filed against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency over medical care at an immigration jail in Otay Mesa was settled Thursday with an agreement that the government will provide a broader range of treatment and increase mental health care.
The settlement covers the immigration jail run by the Corrections Corporation of America under a contract with ICE. The lawsuit, filed in 2007 by the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties, alleged that detainees had to endure lengthy waits for medical treatment, did not get the medications needed for chronic illnesses and had poor mental health care.
The settlement applies only to the ICE detention facility at the jail, and as part of the deal the agency did not admit that any of the allegations were true...
LINK - SignonSanDiego.com (San Diego Union-Tribune)
October 26, 2010
CUSA Trial Update from CCPOA
Dear Member,
As you may already know, a jury recently ruled that CCPOA and a group named Corrections USA must pay $12.5 million in damages to two former employees of Corrections USA.
This case was brought against our union in January 2007 for events that occurred in mid-2006.
Due to a protective order issued by the court, we were prevented from communicating in detail about this case during the trial. With the trial now concluded, and our decision to appeal the ruling, we will do our best to explain the case and answer your questions...
October 4, 2010
Lawsuit alleges Florence prison operator allowed sexual harassment
A federal agency filed a lawsuit last week alleging a private company that operates prisons in Florence sexually harassed and retaliated against female employees.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's lawsuit against GEO Group Inc. alleged the company and some male managers supervising correctional officers fostered a "sexual and sex-based hostile work environment" at two Florence prisons that allowed harassment and retaliation against female employees.
GEO Group, which operates Arizona State Prison-Florence and Central Arizona Correctional Facility in Florence, declined to comment on the EEOC lawsuit...
LINK - AZCentral.com
September 7, 2010
Arizona prison escape, killings prompt lawsuit
The first legal action in the Arizona prison breakout that led to the killing of two campers has been filed against the state and the operator of the private prison.
Vivian Haas, the mother of murder victim Gary Haas, filed a $10 million claim against Arizona and a wrongful death lawsuit against Management Training Corp., the company that operates the private prison near Kingman where three fugitives escaped on July 30.
The notice of claim is a required precursor to a lawsuit...
LINK - AZCentral.com
June 3, 2010
APNewsBreak: ACLU, Idaho settle prison lawsuit
The American Civil Liberties Union has reached a settlement with the Idaho Department of Correction in a lawsuit over violence at a privately run prison near Boise.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit against Corrections Corporation of America and the state earlier this year, saying the Idaho Correctional Center is so violent that inmates refer to it as "gladiator school" and that guards deliberately expose prisoners to brutal beatings from other inmates.
The ACLU's lawsuit against CCA still stands...
LINK - WashingtonPost.com
March 6, 2010
Aramark sues private prison firm over payments
Saying it is owed $7.3 million, Aramark Corp., the Philadelphia food-services provider, has sued a New Jersey operator of correctional facilities.
In the suit, Aramark contends Community Education Centers Inc., of West Caldwell, N.J., has been in default on bills since at least June 2008. Locally, Aramark services Community Education Centers facilities in Philadelphia, Delaware County, Reading, and Trenton.
Aramark's lawsuit, filed Feb. 18 in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, said Community Education Centers was overdue on $5.2 million of the total, and it requested that a judgment, including interest, costs, and attorney's fees, be entered in its favor...
LINK - Philly.com
February 23, 2010
Alameda County Judge to issue furlough judgments soon?
The Alameda Superior Court judge who ruled against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in three union-backed furlough lawsuits said this morning that he will issue final decisions in those cases within one week.
Judge Frank Roesch made that commitment in his Oakland court room to attorneys representing Schwarzenegger, SEIU Local 1000, the Union of American Physicians and Dentists and California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment. The group convened to debate how to apply the judge's December decisions that some aspects of Schwarzenegger's furlough order violate the law. (Click here for more about those decisions.)
A fourth furlough case that Roesch ruled on involving members of California Correctional Peace Officers' Association, was not part of today's proceedings...
LINK - SacBee.com
February 9, 2010
Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs Assn files lawsuit over early inmate releases
A hearing on a temporary restraining order that would stop Sacramento County from releasing non-violent inmates early has been postponed until Wednesday.
A judge continued the proceedings on Tuesday because he hadn't received all the paperwork yet.
Last Friday, the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff's Association filed a lawsuit to stop Sacramento and other counties from releasing non-violent prisoners early under a new state law. They contend the law applies only to inmates in state prisons, and the Sacramento County is violating the law through the early releases…
LINK - News10.net
February 1, 2010
Sides Meet, Talk Prisons in Stockton
In remarks at a public forum Saturday morning about prison facilities planned for Stockton, County Supervisor Steve Bestolarides noted that, in a deviation from historical precedent, the city and the county were on the same side of a lawsuit.
"I've brought the community together," joked J. Clark Kelso, the prison health care receiver whose efforts to bring a facility to Stockton have been criticized by local business and political leaders for a lack of transparency and local outreach.
The forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, started early Saturday morning in a banquet room at Valley Brew, a brewpub off the Miracle Mile. Bestolarides, Mayor Ann Johnston and Chamber of Commerce CEO Douglass Wilhoit were there to represent local interests. Kelso, former state Sen. Mike Machado, and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Chief of Staff Brett Morgan were there to make the case for the facilities…
LINK - Recordnet.com
January 26, 2010
Stockton v. Kelso Lawsuit “on hold”
A jurisdictional decision involving a lawsuit against federal prison health care receiver J. Clark Kelso will have to wait eight more weeks.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton said Monday that he will rule March 22 on the motion by Stockton attorney Steve Herum, who wants his lawsuit over construction of an inmate medical center to be heard in San Joaquin County Superior Court.
[…]
Herum wants to force the state to pay millions in concessions to ensure the facility does as little harm as possible to the community…
LINK - RecordNet.com
January 13, 2010
CCPOA responds to Gov’s appeal and threat if he loses
The Schwarzenegger administration said it would file an appeal Wednesday in a lawsuit over his furloughs of state workers, contesting a decision by the controller to restore pay for prison guards.
Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered some 200,000 state employees to take three days off a month without pay, cutting their paychecks by 14 percent to help close the state's budget gap. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association sued, arguing that guards are losing three days' pay each month, but can never take the time off because prisons operate around the clock.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch sided with the 30,000-member union last month. On Tuesday, state Controller John Chiang said he intends to restore guards' full pay to comply with that ruling. The guards' court victory does not affect about two dozen other union lawsuits opposing the furloughs…
LINK - PE.com (The Press-Enterprise)
December 17, 2009
Correctional officers win furlough lawsuit
An Alameda Superior Court judge has ruled that furloughs Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered are illegal for state prison officers whose pay is reduced but who have to wait to take the time off.
The order by Judge Frank Roesch means that roughly 40,000 state correctional officers, their sergeant and lieutenants are due their full pay for time worked.
The judge's order commands Schwarzenegger "… to pay all employees represented by (the union) in this action of all hours worked for which furlough credits have not been utilized…"
LINK - SacBee.com
December 15, 2009
Mike Machado, John Garamendi Jr. hired to promote Stockton prison hospital
With a lawsuit pending against the state, a former state legislator from Linden and the son of Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, have been hired to tell the community why a large prison hospital would be good for the county.
Mike Machado, who represented much of San Joaquin County in the Assembly and State Senate in the 1990s and the current decade, and John Garamendi Jr., were hired for the lobbying positions. They began work on Monday.
Machado, Garamendi and three other members of the Ochoa & Moore law firm in Sacramento will try to convince people in San Joaquin County that the prison hospital would be an asset rather than a liability…
LINK - LodiNews.com
November 27, 2009
Fed receiver Kelso seeks to move Stockton’s prison expansion lawsuit to federal court
Prison health-care receiver J. Clark Kelso has filed a notice to move a lawsuit filed against him over a proposed inmate medical center near Stockton to federal court in Sacramento.
The move drew criticism from local leaders as being "intellectually dishonest in the extreme."
The Stockton Greater Chamber of Commerce, city of Stockton and San Joaquin County filed suit in the San Joaquin County Superior Court on Nov. 17 in an attempt to force millions of dollars in concessions from the state…
LINK - Recordnet.com
November 4, 2009
Stockton City council votes to sue CDCR over proposed prisons
Stockton City Council voted unanimously, 7-0, Tuesday evening to challenge the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in its efforts to build two prisons to house sick, injured and unhealthy felons in the city.
"We hope to join [San Joaquin] County and the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce in this challenge," says City Attorney Ren Nosky, as part of his announcement of a closed session decision.
The state finalized plans to locate a prison re-entry facility at the site of the former women's prison last year. Last month, the state prison health care receiver, Clark Kelso, told local officials of final plans to build a 1,734-bed inmate prison hospital immediately adjacent the site. On Halloween Eve, he revealed plans for a 1,133-bed medical and mental health care facility…
LINK - CentralValleyBusinessTimes.com
October 14, 2009
Private prison managers forced employees to have sex - retaliation if refused
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced the settlement of a pattern or practice discrimination lawsuit against Dominion Correctional Services, LLC and Corrections Corporation of America, both doing business as Crowley County Correctional Facility, for $1.3 million and significant remedial relief on behalf of 21 female former workers who were allegedly subjected to a sex-based hostile work environment and retaliation at an all-male, privately run medium security prison in Olney Springs, Colo.
In its lawsuit (EEOC v. Dominion Correctional Services, LLC and Corrections Corporation Of America, Civ. No. 1:06-cv-01956-KVH), filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, the EEOC charged that female employees at the prison were subjected to unwelcome sexual harassment that included male managers forcing them to perform sex acts in order to keep their jobs. Two chiefs of security, who reported directly to the warden and to whom all security personnel at the prison reported, were allowed to resign after numerous complaints of sexual harassment and rape, according to the EEOC. In the settlement, the defendants did not admit liability…
LINK - EEOC.gov (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Official Website)
April 14, 2009
Cell phone problem in prisons target of legislation
When prosecutors revealed last month that a Baltimore man accused of using a contraband cell phone in jail to order the killing of a witness was again caught with an illegal phone behind bars, the judge's jaw dropped. He couldn't fathom how this keeps happening. It's "amazing," said U.S. District Court Judge Richard D. Bennett.
But jail administrators will tell you it's not. Cell phones are smuggled into prisons in Maryland and around the world by the thousands through visitors, corrupt guards and, in Brazil, carrier pigeons. They're thrown over barrier walls, carried in body cavities and delivered by UPS. Inmates use them to run drug operations, intimidate witnesses, plan their escapes, harass victims' families and pass the time, calling girlfriends and grandmothers without fear of officers listening in. A single jail phone, passed from one inmate to another, can rack up thousands of calls per month…
LINK - BaltimoreSun.com
February 27, 2009
Court Throws Out Lawsuit by Orange County Board of Supervisors to Slash Deputy Sheriff Pension Benef
Superior Court Judge Tosses Out County Legal Case Against Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (AOCDS) and Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS) to Overturn 3% at 50 Pension Benefit for Deputies
LOS ANGELES – Rejecting legal arguments by the County of Orange that Deputy Sheriff pension benefits in Orange County are unconstitutional, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Helen Bendix today threw out of court a lawsuit by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to overturn 3% at 50 pension benefits for Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (County of Orange v. AOCDS & Board of Retirement, Case #BC389758), two months before the case was scheduled to go to trial.
The County of Orange had filed the controversial lawsuit last February after three different outside law firms they had hired for legal counsel had each warned them they could not win such a case. Meanwhile the Orange County Board of Supervisors, as of December 2008, have rung up almost $1.3 million in legal bills in their legal effort.
"The Deputy Sheriffs, their families, and especially those deputies who no longer work, are pleased — but not surprised — by the Court's decision to throw out the County's case," said Wayne Quint, President of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (AOCDS). "The County spent hundreds of thousands of dollars getting opinions from three different outside law firms that all predicted this outcome. Now that they have spent over one million dollars of taxpayer money on this lawsuit, we only hope they will not lay off any more county probation officers to finance an appeal."
Continued Quint, "To quote County Supervisor John Moorlach — who has been driving this Don Quixote type effort — in a speech he made in 2000 to the Orange County Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, 'County agencies should become more accountable to taxpayers for the lawsuits they file. …every time you hire an attorney, the only person who wins is the attorney.' "Well – the county's attorneys have made out like bandits in this case – almost $1.3 million so far, at a time the county is suffering a fiscal crisis. It is unfortunate."
COUNTY OF ORANGE LEGAL COSTS
FOR DEPUTY SHERIFF PENSION LITIGATION
(through December 2008)*
As of December 31, 2008, the County of Orange has spent a total of $1,291,442.70 in legal costs associated with the Board of Supervisors' litigation effort regarding Orange County Deputy Sheriffs' pensions (although the county has not yet released billings for Oct. 2008).
Law Firm Amount Paid
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP $ 99,598.40
(Jan. 1, 2006 to Dec. 1, 2007)
Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen $125,561.04
(Jan. 1, 2007 to Dec. 1, 2007)
Snell & Wilmer LLP $ 57,713.00
(June 30, 2007 to Dec. 1, 2007)
Kirkland & Ellis LLP $1,008,570.26
(June 1, 2007 to December 31, 2008)
———————————————————————————
TOTAL LITIGATION COSTS BY COUNTY $1,291,442.70
Kirkland & Ellis Billings
$ 138,461.10 (October 2007)
$ 82,753.25 (November 2007)
$ 60,004.56 (December 2007)
$ 106,538.09 (January 2008)
$ 38,202.72 (February 2008)
$ 133,317.84 (March & April 2008)
$ 65,123.57 (May 2008)
$ 95,405.18 (June 2008)
$ 61,424.67 (July 2008)
$ 21,231.07 (August 2008)
$ 52,559.88 (September 2008)
(***Missing***) (October 2008)
$ 72,609.49 (November 2008)
$ 80,938.84 (December 2008)
$1,008,570.26 (October 2007 – December 2008)
* As per records provided by the County of Orange County Counsel's office (Missing Oct. 2008)
October 8, 2008
A matter of restraint: Lawsuit focuses on how police subdue suspects
A lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died in police custody raises questions about how officers restrain individuals who are resisting arrest. On May 29, 2007, Ramel Henderson, then 51, lost consciousness while San Diego Police officers attempted to put him in what's known as "maximum restraint," where a subject is handcuffed and placed on his stomach while officers bind the person's ankles and then attach the ankle cuff to a waist cord.
Henderson never regained consciousness and died several hours later at Paradise Valley Hospital in National City. On Monday, Oct. 6, Anthony Willoughby, an L.A. attorney representing Henderson's family, told a federal magistrate judge that the police procedure violated Henderson's civil rights.
Maximum restraint, as applied by the San Diego Police Department, is a modified version of so-called "hogtying," where an unruly subject's handcuffs and ankle cuffs are connected behind the person's back. Hogtying has been banned by some law-enforcement agencies—including San Diego—after a number of hogtied subjects suffocated to death. According to the San Diego Police Department's written procedures, even maximum restraint "should be used as a last resort…"
LINK - SDCityBeat.com (San Diego City Beat)
June 27, 2008
Group hopes suit can block prison plan
About 140 people assembled at the Sterling Hills Golf Course Clubhouse on Thursday evening to join the Prison Hospital Action Committee, a community effort created to fight the construction of a prison hospital just outside Camarillo.
"This is a roll-up-your-sleeves, get-to-work type of meeting," said Kathi Miller, a Camarillo resident spearheading the effort.
J. Clark Kelso, a federal receiver charged with bringing California's prison healthcare system in line with the U.S. Constitution, has proposed shutting down the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility on Wright Road and replacing it with a hospital for 1,500 adult inmates with physical and psychological problems…
LINK - VenturaCountyStar.com
May 1, 2008
County must pay jail employees back pension costs
LISBON, OHIO - A decision by Columbiana County commissioners to settle a dispute over retirement benefits for five former county jail employees could prove costly. Just how much so has yet to be determined, but it could be substantial.
Commissioners voted at Wednesday's meeting to enter into a consent agreement with the former jail employees to resolve a lawsuit filed earlier this year with the Ohio 7th District Court of Appeals.
The lawsuit sought a court order requiring commissioners to comply with a decision by the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS), which ruled last November five former employees were entitled to retirement benefits dating back to 1998, when a private company took over operating the jail…
LINK - MorningJournalNews.com (The Morning Journal)
April 15, 2008
Court upholds female guard’s harassment award
A federal appeals court has upheld $600,000 in damages to a state prison guard who said she was fired after complaining that she was being harassed by naked male inmates.
The complaints by Deanna Freitag led to an investigation by the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's inspector general, who found in 2000 that maximum-security inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison had regularly subjected female guards to "lewd exhibitionism and exhibitionist masturbation" and that the warden and other officials were doing little to stop it.
Freitag, who had worked at the prison in Del Norte County since 1996, was fired by Pelican Bay officials shortly before those findings were issued. Her bosses accused her of fabricating incidents in the reports she had been filing since September 1998…
LINK - SFGate.com (The San Francisco Chronicle)
March 18, 2008
Washington Staff Assault Task Force sues inmate for alleged attack
An inmate at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla is being sued for a "vicious assault" on a corrections officer at the prison in December. A civil lawsuit was filed in Walla Walla County Superior Court against Christopher R. McBain by the Washington Staff Assault Task Force.
The suit was filed on behalf of Mark Abbott, 42, a 14-year veteran at the state prison. The suit against an inmate is believed to be the first of its kind in the state. The goal of the nonprofit task force is to hold inmates accountable for their actions while providing support to officers who get assaulted.
"Just because inmates are in prison doesn't mean that their criminal activity stops," said the task force's director, Keith Rapp, who spent 17 years at the penitentiary and was a captain of the corrections officers and a crisis hostage negotiator…
LINK - Tri-CityHerald.com
See also: Correctional Officer files complaint against judge - March 15, 2008 (CDCR, california, correctional officers, lawsuit, assault)
