The Georgia Sheriff's Association must share my dismay that Sheriff Hill took office. They have asked the Georgia Governor to appoint a committee to determine if Hill should be suspended with pay until his indictments have been resolved.
The indictments against Sheriff Hill include accusations of using county money and resources to take vacations and buy personal items during his earlier term as sheriff. He is also accused of assigning public employees to work on his personal re-election campaign as well as private charity events. In addition, he approved the phony sick leave of an employee so she could go with him on an out-of-town trip. Is he the type of person that the State of Georgia, or any other state, should accept as a leader in law enforcement? I do not think so, although apparently the majority of the residents of Clayton County, Georgia would disagree with me.
This is not the first time that Sheriff Hill has behaved in an controversial manner. Right after he was initially elected sheriff, in 2004, he began his term by firing 27 employees. They were escorted away from the Clayton County Jail while snipers were posted on the roof.
Clayton County Jail Inmates File Complaint over Conditions
According to a recent report from Access North Georgia, dozens of inmates have complained about the "poor food, unsanitary living conditions and atrocious civil rights violations" at the Clayton County Jail.
According to the complaint, which was signed by 42 inmates, under the leadership of Sheriff Victor Hill the inmates have also been denied access to a law library, without any explanation.
Rather than deal with the complaints, Sheriff Hill insists that he is using a boot-camp approach to his treatment of the inmates.
Inadequate Inmate Medical Care at Clayton County Jail
The poor treatment of inmates at the Clayton County Jail has gone on under other sheriffs, as well. When 25 year old DeShawn Nicole Balka was arrested for misdemeanor possession of marijuana and was subsequently sent to jail because she tested positive for drugs and was unable to pay her fines, she was 5 1/2 months pregnant. During the 12 days she spent in the jail during the month of April, 2012, she went into premature labor. She alleges that her repeated requests for medical attention were denied. She gave birth in the jail and only after her child was born were she and her baby transported to a hospital. The baby died 75 minutes after its birth. She believes that her baby might have lived if she had been transported to a hospital as soon as she went into labor.
Interview with a Short-Term Inmate of the Clayton County Jail
During a recent interview with Pam B., a woman who spent just three days in the Clayton County Jail, she expressed her horror at the conditions in the jail. This was the first time she had ever been under arrest and she was released as soon as her attorney was able to clear up a misunderstanding over a legal issue that was taking place in another state. She was one of the lucky inmates who could afford an attorney to arrange for her release, although making these arrangements cost her a substantial amount of money in legal fees and changed airline tickets.
From the moment she arrived in the first holding tank, where she was held for nine hours before being assigned to a cell, Pam was confronted with unsanitary conditions. There was no soap or toilet paper, and the only toilet she was allowed to use was "disgusting."
When she was finally assigned to a cell, Pam was shocked at the conditions in the jail during her short stay. She lost 10 pounds in three days. She said that she did not have a problem with the other inmates. They were actually very nice to her. Since this is a county jail, none of them were incarcerated for major crimes. Most of them were in jail, as Pam put it, "for being poor." When they were unable to pay various fines and fees, they had been arrested and forced to spend a few weeks in jail. Her cellmate was in the jail because she was unable to pay the license fee for her car. She had driven it anyway, and ended up with a fine, which she also could not pay. Ultimately, she was sent to jail.
In my opinion, there has to be a cheaper solution than having a county spend thousands of dollars to feed and house people who cannot pay modest fines. This system seems fiscally irresponsible. Perhaps a modest garnishment of their salary or any financial aid they receive from the state would be a more reasonable solution.
When Pam arrived at the jail, she was having a flare-up of her gout and her foot was visibly swollen, but she did not have her medication with her. She filled out a medical request form, but she was never seen by medical staff, given medication or treated in any way for her painful condition. Despite ignoring her gout, they did give all the inmates a TB test. Apparently, tuberculosis is a concern in the jail, although Pam received no follow up information. She was also asked if she had an STD. She told them no, although privately she feels that the jail conditions were so unsanitary it would be easy for someone to pick up a multitude of viral or bacterial infections.
Pam reported that the only food items that she found edible were the two plain bologna sandwiches she received each day. She found the "hash or goulash or whatever it was they were serving for dinner" to be inedible. When she tried to save one of her bologna sandwiches to eat later in the day, she got in trouble.
Pam was also disgusted that the jail refused to allow the women to wear underwear, even during their monthly cycle. This caused them to have to live with bloody clothing ... a horrifying and unsanitary situation. Pam felt that the women she met in jail were being treated like animals, even though most of them were there for very minor infractions of the law.
Like the jail inmates who made the complaint mentioned above, Pam was also not allowed access to a library or a television, even in a common area. In fact, she and her cellmate were confined to their cell for 23 hours a day. Pam also complained about being cold in her cell with only one thin sheet and blanket. To make matters worse, she was only allowed to use the blanket from 11:00 at night until 4:00 in the morning. If she was caught using it at any other time, they would take it away from her. What harm could possibly have been done by allowing her to cover herself with a blanket at 4:30 in the morning or at 10:30 at night?
As though to add insult to injury, the Clayton County jail system also made it unnecessarily complicated and difficult for her to be released. Once her husband arranged for her release, he was not allowed to call her. He put a message on his phone for her, in case she was able to contact him. When she was originally detained by the sheriff's department at the Atlanta airport, they told her to bring only her driver's license and to leave everything else, including money and credit cards, with her husband. Consequently, when they released her, she didn't even have cab fare to go to the airport. If she had been allowed to keep a credit card, she could have gotten herself to the airport and been able to fly home on her own.
When Pam was told she was being released, her jailers were unable to tell her if anyone was waiting for her. Her husband, who had gone home to St. Louis until he knew she would be released, had flown back to Atlanta. However, Pam did not know what was going on. She was not allowed to call him, because the phone in the jail could only be used for local calls. Fortunately, a helpful guard eventually allowed her to use his cell phone. What purpose is served is making it so difficult for people to make a long-distance call to find out what is going on with their case or to make arrangements for transportation after their release?
When Pam finally returned to her home city of St Louis and dealt with the legal problem that had lead to her detention in Atlanta, her local police department did not find it necessary to arrest her. In fact, they told her that they had specifically told the Clayton County Sheriff's office NOT to arrest her. Her home city just wanted her to return home and handle her legal issue. They believe that Clayton County arrested and detained her only because they wanted to make money by charging St. Louis for the detention.
While it is impossible to confirm the communications between the police department in St. Louis and the Sheriff's Department in Clayton County, this appears to be one more example of mismanagement and corruption in the Clayton County Sheriff's Department.
Pam's attitude was that there had to be a reason for her to be forced to have this experience, and she asked me to share her story with others. Perhaps, along with the complaints of other former inmates, her story will inspire some improvements at the Clayton County jail, as well as in county jails throughout the United States.
Inhumane Jail Conditions in the United States
Unfortunately, the problems exposed in Clayton County seem to be common. This is almost certainly not the only county jail in the United States that forces its inmates to live in unsafe, unsanitary and inhumane circumstances. For example, the ACLU has served as a court-appointed monitor of the Los Angeles County Jails since 1985. During these years, they have documented a number of instances of unsanitary living conditions, overcrowding, and violence against the inmates.
I have heard of other jail systems that forced inmates to live in tents or without either air-conditioning or open windows in hot weather.
As my readers know from reading other posts on this blog, I am all for sending child molesters, murderers, rapists, burglars, embezzlers and people who commit other serious crimes to prison. However, it seems to me that we need to come up with a more fiscally responsible, reasonable and humane approach to dealing with people who have committed minor infractions of the law. In these days of jail overcrowding and financially strapped state and county governments, we need to stop lying to ourselves about how jail conditions are "acceptable" and rethink the way we deal with minor law breakers.
Resources:
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/clayton-county-sheriff-takes-office-despite-charge/nTj4D/
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail-pf.php?n=134461
http://www.news-daily.com/news/2012/jun/27/former-inmate-sues-county-over-dead-baby/
http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/prison-conditions
Photo of typical American jail cell: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cela.jpg
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