What part of PREA doesn't Sheriff Joe and the MCSO Understand?
What is wrong with them?There's no reason this guy should have been sharing a cell with someone. That was hardly protective custody. He should also be in a hospital room where he can be reasonably safe and start to recover from the trauma of what just happened, not the jail setting. One or more cops or guards probably set him up in the first place.
PREA is the Prison Rape Elimination Act: If that's how this fellow was assaulted, then I hope the DOJ is all over this. Perhaps they will look at it as part of a CRIPA investigation: how many prisoners have been murdered, raped, or died of medical neglect on Arpaio's watch?
If you're thinking "maybe he deserved it", then you're a big part of the problem of perpetual violence in our society: the part that tolerates violent crime when you approve of how the victim is selected. Prisoners are dependent on the state for their safety, and in this guy's case, should be presumed innocent before trial. Even once convicted, it certainly shouldn't be up to other prisoners or even guards how one gets punished - that's what the judge does.
The MCSO failed to keep that man safe - I don't know how putting another prisoner in there with him (one being held for assault himself) was anything but reckless disregard for human life. It was criminal.
* Note how the AZ Republic decided to first identify this victim by his suspected crime, not by the fact that he was victimized.
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Sexual assault suspect found in cell lying in pool of blood
by Kyle Daly
Jun. 4, 2010
03:26 PM
The Arizona Republic
A Scottsdale man who was facing sexual assault charges was in critical condition after he was found in his jail cell lying in a pool of blood early Friday morning at the Lower Buckeye Jail in Phoenix, according to a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office news release.
The man's cellmate, Lamont Rider, 28, was sitting on his bunk when detention officers discovered the scene at about 3:50 a.m., according to the Sheriff's Office. The Scottsdale man was taken to a hospital where he was in serious condition.
Just before the Scottsdale man was discovered, detention officers had performed a cell-block check, according to authorities. An inmate in a nearby cell called officers on his intercom and said he heard cries of help coming from the next cell.
Jail detectives suspected that the victim's cellmate might have assaulted the Scottsdale man. Rider was in jail because he faces a minor assault charge, according to the Sheriff's Office. The Scottsdale man has been accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.
The victim underwent surgery early Friday morning and is under watch in a secure section of the hospital.
Both men had requested administrative segregation for fear of their safety in the general population. The two had been in the cell together for less than 48 hours.