Your criminal justice system at work

Here’s a nice little Hump Day waker-upper.

On Monday, at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, a prisoner was nearly killed by another inmate. The victim, 19-year-old Ryan John, is in critical condition after an encounter with 21-year-old Dakota Gardner. Security video shows John entering Gardner’s cell and closing the door; then…

Eight minutes later – after prison officials discovered paper over the window of Gardner’s cell door and a team of guards intervened – inmate Ryan John was found near death, a sheet wrapped around his neck. Gardner, 21, of Springfield was inside, standing calmly against a wall.

That’s a lot to happen in eight minutes. Entry, confrontation, attack, and asphyxiation prolonged enough to almost kill. John’s injuries were so severe that he may well face permanent impairment — if he survives. Corrections Commissioner Andrew Pallito said “we won’t know the extent of the asphyxiation for several days.” So, how does this happen in a “secure” facility?

Pallito said the prison has 130 security cameras, but staff do not monitor the cameras individually. He said it was an infraction for an inmate to be in another inmate’s cell with the door closed.

And obviously, no staffers were actually on the unit, or they would have noticed something. My inference, and it may be unfair, is that the prison relies heavily on video monitoring — but doesn’t keep watch of the cameras. Big money-saver; staffing is expensive, cameras are cheap.

And so, apparently, is human life.

After the jump: Sixth Amendment? We don’t need no stinkin’ Sixth Amendment.

Here’s something else that should make you grind your teeth: John had not been convicted of any crime. He’d been behind bars for 18 months, awaiting trial on a charge of lewd and lascivious conduct. Does that seem a little excessive? An 18-mointh imprisonment for an offense that probably wouldn’t draw an 18-month sentence upon conviction does not appear to jibe with the Sixth Amendment’s promise of a “speedy and public trial” for all offenders.

The name “Dakota Gardner” may ring a bell; last week, he was indicted by a federal grand jury for threatening to kill President Obama and injury Governor Shumlin. He was in prison for a probation-violation charge related to an alleged aggravated assault.

So. How does something like this happen? Is it acceptable? Have we cut so many corners that our criminal justice system no longer lives up to our ideals? I think the answer to that last one is obvious.  

3 thoughts on “Your criminal justice system at work

  1. I do think it’s a gross distortion of 6th Amendment protections, but I will note that a conviction for first offense of L&L is not less than 2 years.  

    Given that he allegedly engaged in sexual activity with 2 different boys and admitted to an investigator that he couldn’t control himself, keeping him in jail before trial is certainly reasonable.  For 18 months?  Well, that’s a travesty, as is having an accused sex offender in with the general prison population (they are major targets).  I see he’s supposed to go to juvenile court, so I wonder if they’re even more backed up than other parts of the system.  One hopes Shumlin can follow through on promises to reduce prison costs by releasing more non-violent offenders and put some of that money into improved criminal justice, not just early ed.

  2. to its mental health system.

    At just twenty-one, Mr. Gardner clearly is mentally unstable…criminally so, it’s true; but one has to wonder if he is someone who fell through the cracks earlier in life because we have so few resources to detect and deal with mental illness before it spirals out of control.

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