Erie County Attorney Cheryl Green is spinning this story so fast, she’s making herself dizzy.
Let’s be clear, this was not a “win” for Erie County or Cheryl Green. Judge William Skretny approved the request for discovery by the Department of Justice, without condition.
This interview with Channel 2’s Josh Boose is her latest attempt to blow smoke up everyone’s ass. It’s a shame that Boose didn’t bother to read the decision by the Judge prior to conducting the interview, or he might have been able to ask some of those “tough questions”.
Green states:
“Had the Justice Department just agreed from day one to allow the county to be present during these types of proceedings, we would have agreed to the discovery. They refused to do so.”
Despite what Green claims, the DOJ has never been opposed to having “ECHC staff” accompany investigators in touring the facility. In fact, they asked for it:
Based on the current situation in the prison, with accusations of maltreatment of prisoners, it is well within reason that the DOJ attorneys be allowed unsupervised access to inmates during the interview process. Contrary to Green’s claim that this issue is yet to be “clarified” by Judge Skretny, the judge approved without condition, the discovery request filed by the DOJ. In fact, he expedited their request from the standard 30 days (as requested by DOJ) to 14 days due to the severity of the problems he observed.
Here is what Green told the Buffalo News back in October when the DOJ asked for the discovery process to begin immediately:
Green opposes the Justice Department’s latest request as well, describing it as improper until U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny rules on her motion to dismiss the Justice Department’s lawsuit against the county and the officials who manage its jails.
Motion to Dismiss FAIL. Judge Skretny ruled in favor of the DOJ that the civil rights lawsuit suit may continue and further clarification of his decision will be forthcoming.
This lawsuit is about much more than access. It is about a series of civil rights violations brought to the attention of the DOJ and which make up the content of their original lawsuit.
The suicide prevention standards and monitoring of inmates identified as suicide risks is just a small part of the overall issue. The premise of the DOJ lawsuit is to determine whether there are fundamental violations of civil rights in our county prisons. You can read the summary of the initial DOJ findings and the basis for their lawsuit in this 50 page report released in July.
It’s important to remember that all of this spin are stalling tactics by Erie County. If the County had nothing to hide, this investigation could have proceeded, lives could have been saved and standards could have been adhered to. Instead, Green’s antics have forced the DOJ to file an “unnecessary lawsuit” and “irresponsible and illegal requests for discovery” because of the inability or unwillingness of Sheriff Howard to adhere to minimum and reasonable standards for the handling of inmates.
Of course, the DOJ lawsuit is just ONE of the lawsuits against Erie County. Who might be the plaintiff in that other suit? The New York State Commission of Correction. You know, the organization Green so frequently claims as the governing authority for standards in Erie County facilities.
The State Commission of Correction charged in a lawsuit Tuesday that the Erie County Holding Center consistently violates state standards and that jail managers have failed to correct the problems, despite their claims.
The lawsuit, filed by the state attorney general’s office on the commission’s behalf, asks the State Supreme Court to order Sheriff Timothy B. Howard to operate the jail in a “safe, stable and humane manner.”
I think we can dispense with that talking point. The NY State Commission on Corrections claims that “Erie County consistently violates state standards and that jail managers have failed to correct the problems, despite their claims to the contrary,” Yet, Ms. Green has the temerity to claim in her response to the DOJ civil rights lawsuit that Erie County meets the standards of the State Commission. Read that again, Josh Boose. The State says Erie County is not in compliance with the very standards Green cites as evidence that she can tell the DOJ to get fucked.
A concern at this point is that the county has 14 days to clean up any mess they don’t want investigators to see. And that’s where we all lose.
The latest Collins/Green/Howard talking point has been centered around the DOJ statistic that the ECHC’s suicide rate is 5 times that of the national average. The county and its minions claim that number is false, but to date, have not provided any evidence to the contrary. Not to the Legislature. Not to the DOJ. And evidently, not to Judge Skretny:
A lot of talking out of both sides of their mouth, but always met with the same result. A County Executive and Sheriff who are quick to lay blame on everyone but themselves, wasting taxpayer money and not focusing on basic civil rights and running a competent and safe correctional facility