Facts revealed over this period of time as described by JJ Hensley, a writer for the Arizona Republic in a story written on October 23, 2011, outlined serious discrepancies that created both unconstitutional and dangerous jail conditions to exist without much attention by jail officials to correct them immediately and choosing a path of litigation to stall reforms and eventual compliance. According to the Arizona Republic “Attorneys for inmates and the Sheriff’s Office scheduled to present their cases to a federal judge last week in the decades-old fight canceled the hearings after lawyers on both sides agreed they were close enough to resolving a final few issues that they did not need to go before a judge.” This is good news for taxpayers who have been burdened with heavy settlements and costly oversight for years. The jail is not out from within this lawsuit as they have to deal with another separate piece of litigation over the medical and mental health care of jail prisoners.
Outstanding issues that need to be resolved are the agreement of a daily caloric intake for the meals served within the jail, overcrowding that has been a direct result of aggressive prosecution of crimes within the county and proper safety and sanitation issues that will improve the overall conditions of the jail within constitutional standards and resolution to decades of disagreement and discrepancies inside that jail. Records reveal that between the mid eighties and today many changes have been made to operate these county jail facilities as standards were adopted to ensure quality and preservation of humane treatment within these jails. Many standards have been adopted to prepare jail administrators to conform to acceptable operational standards and avoid the ignorance of the past that jail conditions must meet a minimum standard in order to avoid court ordered oversight. Looking at one of those available resources out there nationwide is the National Institute of Corrections that has developed information that assists states and county jails with developing or updating standards and inspection programs to lower liabilities, improve key elements of operational concerns, technical assistance and the implementing of sound jail related programs to set models of proper operational methods for those who want the help in making jail improvements.
This would be a good time for the Maricopa Jail administrators to look at these resources available especially those created to enhance jail conditions into compliance. Taking a look at the mission of the National Jail Exchange Journal option for administrators it reads “. The mission of the National Jail Exchange is to promote and provide a vehicle for the free and open exchange of ideas, information, and innovation among jails professionals. Our belief is that, collectively, professionals are likely to have developed successful strategies to meet challenges that arise. Jails professionals and the local governments, states, communities, staff, and inmates they serve and represent benefit greatly when there are systematic ways to share information among each other.”
It has been said that the element of time can add benefits to improvements and changes. It can be agreed that this is partially truthful. On the other hand, time can also hide those problems that exist deep into the culture and conceal cultural deliberate indifference towards jail prisoners that result in neglect, abuse with associated risks of serious injuries or death if conditions exist that permit such incidents to occur. Since the arrest and prosecution of a former Maricopa County jailer who assaulted a mentally ill prisoner and was sentenced to do a one year sentence inside his former employer’s jail, there are reasonable concerns that he was just a small portion of a culture that exists to punish jail prisoners for being in their custody even before their trials had commenced and not found guilty of any crimes or wrongdoings but subject to the pain and harassment of those who have assumed the role of the “punisher” inside these jails.
Now that the Maricopa Jail has overcome the litigation of previous concerns to this jail, perhaps now they will focus on another ongoing problem and seek assistance from the NIC and develop better training for employees in the area of supervising the severely mentally ill persons who are put in jails awaiting pre-trial status but subject to harsh conditions what is best described as a toxic environment where rules are broken by those who wear the badge of law and order and rights are ignored under the American Disability Act that covers such disproportionate conditions and makes coping inside a jail difficult. Looking at the current events in the Los Angeles County Jail where Sheriff Lee Baca is under fire for prisoner abuse and mistreatment, Sheriff Joe Arpaio can take a proactive course of action and begin correcting staff behaviors and conduct accordingly as outlined in those professionals standards contained with the manuals of the NIC jail programs.
Source:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/10/23/20111023maricopa-county-jail-lawsuit.html
http://nicic.gov/Library/024960
http://nicic.gov/?q=+mentally+ill
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/blogs/prop-zero/131389198.html