The old and tired political trick of attacking the individuals instead of addressing the issues that got you here. How does this relate to HIV/AIDS in south Georgia? South Georgia’s rural jails are where all the inmates go when the feds force Fulton to do the right thing.
Sheriff’s attorney wants federal monitor out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/14/07Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman’s attorney has demanded the resignation of a federal monitor appointed to oversee mandated improvements at the troubled county jail.
If Patrick McManus doesn’t resign, the attorney, Randy Turner, informed the monitor in a letter dated Jan. 31 that the sheriff will ask U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob to fire him because of the “level of mistrust” between McManus and Freeman’s staff.
McManus, a jail and prison expert with 40 years’ experience, fired back a letter to Turner.
“I will not resign lest anyone interpret that action as my being intimidated by your heavy-handed attempt to bully an officer of the court,” McManus wrote.
The request for a federal monitor to resign is unusual.
“I’ve heard of monitors resigning, but not under attack by one of the parties,” Shoob said.
Shoob, who appointed McManus, said Tuesday he backs his monitor. “I have full confidence in Mr. McManus,” the judge said.
The jail has a history of overcrowding and mismanagement that preceded Freeman’s election in 2004, the same year inmates filed a federal lawsuit claiming the jail was dangerous and violated their constitutional rights.
Shoob last year approved a settlement in the suit that was contingent on the sheriff, whose office runs the jail, making improvements in a reasonable length of time. A consent order capped the number of inmates, established minimum staffing levels, required timely releases of inmates and called for $55 million in renovations.
McManus was chosen to oversee the reform efforts. McManus, who lives in Minnesota, report back to Shoob but his trips to Atlanta have been limited to three days every three months. Since the consent order was signed, McManus and the lawyers who filed the suit have complained several times about the lack of information and the shortage of detail the jail has provided.
The terse exchange of letters were the most recent salvo in the ongoing battle between the sheriff and his staff and McManus and others charged with documenting the sheriff’s compliance with the consent order.
The sheriff is supposed to file regular reports on jail conditions, including such information as how long it takes to release inmates and whether there are enough guards in the cellblocks.
In recent months, the monitor has questioned “assertions” from the sheriff’s office that the jail is meeting those requirements and has asked for proof.
Turner complained in the letter that such a request indicates McManus doesn’t trust the sheriff and his staff.
He accused McManus of bias and “a disturbing propensity” to judge the sheriff’s office based on “anecdotal reports of disgruntled employees and the unverified and frequently unverifiable tales of the press.”
McManus countered that Turner’s suggestion that he based his findings on the word of disgruntled employees and media accounts “preposterous.”
McManus wrote that his concerns about jail staffing, for example, were based on his own observations, analyzing staff rosters and written and oral reports from “experienced jail employees.”
The monitor and the judge already have discussed the possibility of hiring someone familiar with the intricacies of the Fulton jail to review documents and to report findings to the court and to McManus. Shoob said he will consider appointing an auditor because McManus “was not hired to audit numbers . . . He [the monitor] should expect that any numbers furnished him by the jail officials are accurate. If he [McManus] had some question about the figures and had not reported that to the court, he would be remiss in his obligation.”
Sgt. Nikita Adams-Hightower, spokeswoman for Freeman, said Tuesday that the sheriff had not received McManus’ letter. “When we do, we will carefully review it,” Adams-Hightower said.
Attorneys for the inmates said there are problems with reports. “There needs to be more intensive monitoring,” said Lisa Kung, director of the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights.
McManus wrote that a change in the relationship between him and the sheriff’s office began in the fall of 2006. Top-ranking jail officers were reassigned, conflicts between the jail administrator and the sheriff’s consultant increased, and “much of the reporting stopped,” McManus wrote.
“The ‘level of mistrust’ grew when I pressed for a more comprehensive and articulated plan to address the multiple staffing issues raised by the consent order. It increased as I raised concerns about the lack of detail with regard to the reporting of the number of inmates not released within 24 hours as required by the consent order, and it increased further with the deterioration of the jail’s internal chain of command …
“The final blow appears to be my refusal to accept as fact mere “assertions” of compliance,” McManus wrote.
Filed under: Corrections (general), Georgia, Georgia Politics
