By Eddie Griffin
Friday, January 23, 2009
I cut my teeth as a penitentiary gladiator, not by choice, but by being thrust into hand-to-hand combat to survive. I bear witness that there is a God somewhere, and that He watched over me and delivered me from hell. So, I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.
Don’t get me wrong and think, for one second, it was not an easy conversion. I lived and breathed combat while in prison. But this one thing I always remembered: Thou shall not kill. I never took the blood of the innocent, and neither have I taken the life of the guilty. I was a man who hated bloodshed. The very sight of blood made me want to throw up.
So, you know how I felt going into a meeting with a Mafia don who wanted to whack a black inmate.
Word came to Akinshiju that the don wanted to speak to the brothers. There was a general rule in the penitentiary that a white inmate could not kill a black inmate without permission. Otherwise, it would set off a race riot.
And, so that’s what the Mafia don wanted to avoid. We, on the other hand, represented the brothers, the black inmates in the prison. There, I found myself seated at the negotiation table, five of us, three of them. Two bodyguards accompanied the old Mafioso. They stood at his shoulders like two muscle-bound angels. And, I imaged wings upon his shoulders, like a bird colonel. He was a man with power and authority in the joint, a man worth millions on the outside world. But he was not in the side world. Here, we were all the same, all equal, but we had the more deadly force. We had the numbers.
In his raspy voice, he explained the offense of the “maricon”. The black inmate, new to the environment, had taken liberty with the don’s property, to wit, a candy bar.
Akinshiju blurted out, “You mean that you want to kill a brother because he stole a candy bar.”
Thou shall not steal. It could cost a man his life, or the rest thereof.
The don explained that it was a matter of respect. In Italian culture respect comes with a high price.
Looking around the room, Akinsijui blurted out again, “Can someone talk to this fool?”
My first instincts: “I will,” I replied, without hesitation. Damn, did I just say that, I thought.
It was now on me. The blood of this fool was now on my hand.
They gave me a message to deliver to the inmate, and a plan of what to do if he complies and what to do if he didn’t comply. But I was afraid that when I delivered the message, the fool would take a swing at me. I was trained but never tested. This would be my first true test. My mission was to save a fool from execution by two penitentiary assassins. I could not live with myself if I allowed him to be killed without giving him a warning.
I found myself on the morning of the hit walking the young brother to the mess hall for breakfast. I whispered as we walk, “Check in, or you will not live the day out.” This meant checking into protective custody and being locked up in segregation for his protection.
He looked at me with a frown, “Nigger, who do you think…” He clutched his fist as if to prepare to throw a punch.
In a split second, I replied, “I am the messenger. You do not want to touch the messenger. You’ve been told.” Sweet to the letter, I rehearsed these words. Not even I knew when I was bluffing. Bluffing is half the psychological battle. Backing it up is the other half.
I was trained for this moment. But the punch never came. Instead, the inmate fled to the nearest guard and checked in. It was then that I learned the burden of being a peacekeeper in prison. Thereafter, men in prison reported to me ever blood curdling horror of fights, hits, and rumors of violence. Most of us just wanted to serve out our time as peacefully as possible. But sometimes violence erupted. We had to meet it head-on.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
SPECIAL INAUGURATION DAY EDITION
Jan 21, 2009
Volume 2 - No. 3
Darwin Campbell, Executive Publisher
LoneStarPowerPages, A Weekly Publication
In this edition: PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION 2009 - Barack Obama
Inauguration Day Stories - President Obama Inspires America
President Barack Obama Inauguration Speech
Inauguration Day Photo Pages 1
Beyonce singing the Etta James Classic 'At Last'
Inauguration Day Photo Pages 2
Dear Mr. President: Ratify UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
By Eddie Griffin, BASG
www.lonestarpowerpages.com
Thanks you,
Darwin Campbell, Publisher
Volume 2 - No. 3
Darwin Campbell, Executive Publisher
LoneStarPowerPages, A Weekly Publication
In this edition: PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION 2009 - Barack Obama
Inauguration Day Stories - President Obama Inspires America
President Barack Obama Inauguration Speech
Inauguration Day Photo Pages 1
Beyonce singing the Etta James Classic 'At Last'
Inauguration Day Photo Pages 2
Dear Mr. President: Ratify UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
By Eddie Griffin, BASG
www.lonestarpowerpages.com
Thanks you,
Darwin Campbell, Publisher
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The President of the United States:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
With these words, Barack H. Obama will go down in history as the 44th President of the United States of America, a moment in history unlike any other.
Sound the bells! Blow the trumpets!
Here is my send-off to all of my Friends, Family, Students, and Understudies who are going to the Inauguration: My Best Wishes!
Eddie G. Griffin, BASG
Published: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2008
President of the United States of America
Barack H. Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C.
Mr. President: Please Ratify UN Human Rights
Schedule: January 20 — Inauguration Day
FORECAST: According to the National Weather Service, a typical Inauguration Day's normal temperature for the noon hour is about 37°F under a partly cloudy sky with a 10 mph wind. They rate the chances of precipitation at 1 in 6 and the chances of snow at 1 in 20. On the plus side, if it does rain or snow, there is a strong likelihood (a 4 to 1 chance) it will only wet the pavement.
Time - Event
8:00 AM Gates open for ticketed attendees -- if you have tickets, it will be wise to arrive very early as crowds will be huge and security heavy.
10:00 AM Preliminary festivities begin, including music by The United States Marine Band, The San Francisco Boys Chorus, and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.
11:30 AM If you have tickets to event, you must have passed through security by this time.
• Call to Order and Welcoming Remarks: Senator Dianne Feinstein
• Invocation: Dr. Rick Warren
• Aretha Franklin will sing
• Vice President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn into office
• Music composed by John Williams and performed by Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero, and Anthony McGill.
12:00 Noon As specified by the U.S. Constitution (20th Amendment), presidential terms of office begin and end at 12:00 noon on January 20. Barack Obama will take the oath of office, which is this simple, 36-word, statement:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
12:05 PM (approx) President Barack Obama will give his inaugural address, speaking to the nation and world, for the first time, as President of the United States, followed by:
• Poem: Elizabeth Alexander
• Benediction: The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery
• The National Anthem: The United States Navy Band "Sea Chanters"
1:00 PM (approx) Inaugural Luncheon. For details on the menu and invited guests, see the news release.
2:00 PM (approx) Parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House. If you have tickets, you need to be in your seats by 1:00 PM.
The Presidential Inauguration Committee announced on January 9 that 5,000 tickets to the parade would go on sale through Ticketmaster at 1:00 PM that day. They sold out quickly -- no more are available.
Evening There are many inaugural balls held around Washington, DC. Some will be hosted by President Obama, others are just parties.
Balls Hosted by President Obama
For details, see the press release.
• Youth Inaugural Ball - Young Americans aged 18-35
• Obama Home States Inaugural Ball - Illinois and Hawaii invited guests
• Biden Home States Inaugural Ball - Delaware and Pennsylvania invited guests
• Eastern Inaugural Ball - CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT, PR, and USVI invited guests
• Mid-Atlantic Inaugural Ball - MD, VA, DC, NY, NJ, and WV invited guests
• Midwest Inaugural Ball - KS, IN, IA, MI, MN, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI, and MO invited guests
• Southern Inaugural Ball - AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, and TX invited guests
• Western Inaugural Ball - AK, CA, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY, AZ, CO, NV, NM, UT, OK, GUAM/AS invited guests
• Neighborhood Inaugural Ball, hosted by President Obama (New 1/5)
Washington Convention Center. Low Cost and open to public.
• Commander-in-Chief's Ball, hosted by President Obama (New 1/1)
For men and women in uniform only.
Unofficial Balls
• All American Ball
• Change Has Come Inaugural Gala
• NEW 1/9: "The Dream Come True" Inauguration Gala (7:30 PM EST – 1:30 AM)
• Hawaii State Society Inaugural Ball
• The Hill Ball
• Inaugural Purple Ball
• Link Live Inaugural Gal
• MTV Be the Change Inaugural Ball
• State Society of Arizona Inaugural Ball
• Unity Ball
• Blue Diamond Ball
• Hip Hop Inaugural Ball
With these words, Barack H. Obama will go down in history as the 44th President of the United States of America, a moment in history unlike any other.
Sound the bells! Blow the trumpets!
Here is my send-off to all of my Friends, Family, Students, and Understudies who are going to the Inauguration: My Best Wishes!
Eddie G. Griffin, BASG
Published: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2008
President of the United States of America
Barack H. Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C.
Mr. President: Please Ratify UN Human Rights
Schedule: January 20 — Inauguration Day
FORECAST: According to the National Weather Service, a typical Inauguration Day's normal temperature for the noon hour is about 37°F under a partly cloudy sky with a 10 mph wind. They rate the chances of precipitation at 1 in 6 and the chances of snow at 1 in 20. On the plus side, if it does rain or snow, there is a strong likelihood (a 4 to 1 chance) it will only wet the pavement.
Time - Event
8:00 AM Gates open for ticketed attendees -- if you have tickets, it will be wise to arrive very early as crowds will be huge and security heavy.
10:00 AM Preliminary festivities begin, including music by The United States Marine Band, The San Francisco Boys Chorus, and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.
11:30 AM If you have tickets to event, you must have passed through security by this time.
• Call to Order and Welcoming Remarks: Senator Dianne Feinstein
• Invocation: Dr. Rick Warren
• Aretha Franklin will sing
• Vice President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn into office
• Music composed by John Williams and performed by Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero, and Anthony McGill.
12:00 Noon As specified by the U.S. Constitution (20th Amendment), presidential terms of office begin and end at 12:00 noon on January 20. Barack Obama will take the oath of office, which is this simple, 36-word, statement:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
12:05 PM (approx) President Barack Obama will give his inaugural address, speaking to the nation and world, for the first time, as President of the United States, followed by:
• Poem: Elizabeth Alexander
• Benediction: The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery
• The National Anthem: The United States Navy Band "Sea Chanters"
1:00 PM (approx) Inaugural Luncheon. For details on the menu and invited guests, see the news release.
2:00 PM (approx) Parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House. If you have tickets, you need to be in your seats by 1:00 PM.
The Presidential Inauguration Committee announced on January 9 that 5,000 tickets to the parade would go on sale through Ticketmaster at 1:00 PM that day. They sold out quickly -- no more are available.
Evening There are many inaugural balls held around Washington, DC. Some will be hosted by President Obama, others are just parties.
Balls Hosted by President Obama
For details, see the press release.
• Youth Inaugural Ball - Young Americans aged 18-35
• Obama Home States Inaugural Ball - Illinois and Hawaii invited guests
• Biden Home States Inaugural Ball - Delaware and Pennsylvania invited guests
• Eastern Inaugural Ball - CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT, PR, and USVI invited guests
• Mid-Atlantic Inaugural Ball - MD, VA, DC, NY, NJ, and WV invited guests
• Midwest Inaugural Ball - KS, IN, IA, MI, MN, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI, and MO invited guests
• Southern Inaugural Ball - AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, and TX invited guests
• Western Inaugural Ball - AK, CA, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY, AZ, CO, NV, NM, UT, OK, GUAM/AS invited guests
• Neighborhood Inaugural Ball, hosted by President Obama (New 1/5)
Washington Convention Center. Low Cost and open to public.
• Commander-in-Chief's Ball, hosted by President Obama (New 1/1)
For men and women in uniform only.
Unofficial Balls
• All American Ball
• Change Has Come Inaugural Gala
• NEW 1/9: "The Dream Come True" Inauguration Gala (7:30 PM EST – 1:30 AM)
• Hawaii State Society Inaugural Ball
• The Hill Ball
• Inaugural Purple Ball
• Link Live Inaugural Gal
• MTV Be the Change Inaugural Ball
• State Society of Arizona Inaugural Ball
• Unity Ball
• Blue Diamond Ball
• Hip Hop Inaugural Ball
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Judge Orders Release of Young Guantanamo Prisoner
By Eddie Griffin
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Star-Telegram reported: Mohammed el Gharani, should be released from the U.S. prison in Cuba “forthwith”, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said in a ruling from the bench.
WASHINGTON (CNN) reports that the Chadian nationality was the youngest prisoner sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention center -- captured in Pakistan at 14… The judge ruled that el-Gharani, now 21, was not an enemy combatant and directed the military to take all necessary and appropriate diplomatic steps to facilitate his release.
The U.S. government had claimed that el-Gharani had been a member of an al-Qaeda cell based in London since the age of 11.
BASG began blogging about the plight of Mohammed el Gharani and 37 other underage inmates identified by the International Red Cross, confined at the Guantanamo Bay facilities in May 2008. Children in combat zones have rights, both constitutionally and according to UN Convention. But the Bush administration had created what President-elect called a “legal black hole”.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, the General Assembly in 1993 requested the Secretary-General to appoint an expert to study the impact of armed conflict on children. After two years of research, field visits and consultations, Graça Machel, the Secretary-General's Expert on the subject and a former Minister for Education in Mozambique, submitted a report, titled Impact of Armed Conflict on Children (document A/51/306 and Add. 1), to the 1996 session of the General Assembly.
The most fundamental premise of this report is that children simply have no part in warfare.
The United States and Somalia are the only two countries that have not signed the CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD, which was adopted by all other nations on November 20, 1989.
In a May 27, 2008 email to Ursula Wynhoven, United Nations Commission on Human Rights: (Source: http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/2008/05/us-violates-human-rights-of-child.html)
The United States has captured a number of child-soldier combatants as young as 12 years old. The government has kept these cases hidden from the American public. These children are branded as “terrorists”. They have been detained in harsh facilities with adults, held for years without being charged, (some for up to six years)… One child prisoner, Mohamed el Gharani, is accused of involvement in a 1998 al-Qa'ida plot in London led by the alleged al-Qa'ida leader in Europe, Abu Qatada. But he was 12 years old at the time and living with his parents in Saudi Arabia… After being arrested in Karachi in October 2001, at aged 14, he has spent several years in solitary confinement as an alleged al-Qa'ida-trained fighter.
In a May 29, 2008 email to U.S. Rep. Michael C. Burgess and U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, we requested that the tribunal records on these young POWs be opened for public scrutiny, because most American people were not aware that we were holding children in harsh prison detention.
On September 26, 2008, BASG brought the matter to the attention of Magnus Bergmar, Executive Director. Children’s World in Mariefred, Sweden, due to a lack of media coverage in the United States. (See excerpts below)
As the United States of America prepares to choose the next President, I am fearful the next administration and the rest of the world will forget about the underage captives taken in the combat zone and branded as “terrorist”. Some of these children were only 14 and 15 years old when detained by the U.S. military.
In the past, we written to you and kept you abreast of their plight. Now one of the government tribunal prosecutors has quit and is ready to testify that the rights of one of these children were violated.
These children were taken into custody, originally denied representation and parental visits. They were held incommunicado in isolated areas and tortured.
Now a former U.S. military prosecutor at Guantanamo who accuses his superiors of suppressing evidence refused Thursday to testify in a war crimes case unless he is granted immunity… Army Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, who was called as a defense witness, revealed a day earlier that he quit over what he called ethical lapses by prosecutors.
In another case brought before the federal courts in October 2008, BASG reported:
U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ordered the Bush administration Tuesday to immediately free 17 Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay into the United States... Over the objections of government lawyers, Urbina ordered their release in Washington D.C. by Friday.
“Because the Constitution prohibits indefinite detentions without cause, the continued detention is unlawful… I think the moment has arrived for the court to shine the light of constitutionality on the reasons for the detention,” Urbina said.
We are pleased to see the new U.S. administration plans to close the Guantanamo Bay facility, as articulated by Attorney General-nominee Eric Holder. But what will become of these children captured in the war zone is another question.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Star-Telegram reported: Mohammed el Gharani, should be released from the U.S. prison in Cuba “forthwith”, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said in a ruling from the bench.
WASHINGTON (CNN) reports that the Chadian nationality was the youngest prisoner sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention center -- captured in Pakistan at 14… The judge ruled that el-Gharani, now 21, was not an enemy combatant and directed the military to take all necessary and appropriate diplomatic steps to facilitate his release.
The U.S. government had claimed that el-Gharani had been a member of an al-Qaeda cell based in London since the age of 11.
BASG began blogging about the plight of Mohammed el Gharani and 37 other underage inmates identified by the International Red Cross, confined at the Guantanamo Bay facilities in May 2008. Children in combat zones have rights, both constitutionally and according to UN Convention. But the Bush administration had created what President-elect called a “legal black hole”.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, the General Assembly in 1993 requested the Secretary-General to appoint an expert to study the impact of armed conflict on children. After two years of research, field visits and consultations, Graça Machel, the Secretary-General's Expert on the subject and a former Minister for Education in Mozambique, submitted a report, titled Impact of Armed Conflict on Children (document A/51/306 and Add. 1), to the 1996 session of the General Assembly.
The most fundamental premise of this report is that children simply have no part in warfare.
The United States and Somalia are the only two countries that have not signed the CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD, which was adopted by all other nations on November 20, 1989.
In a May 27, 2008 email to Ursula Wynhoven, United Nations Commission on Human Rights: (Source: http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/2008/05/us-violates-human-rights-of-child.html)
The United States has captured a number of child-soldier combatants as young as 12 years old. The government has kept these cases hidden from the American public. These children are branded as “terrorists”. They have been detained in harsh facilities with adults, held for years without being charged, (some for up to six years)… One child prisoner, Mohamed el Gharani, is accused of involvement in a 1998 al-Qa'ida plot in London led by the alleged al-Qa'ida leader in Europe, Abu Qatada. But he was 12 years old at the time and living with his parents in Saudi Arabia… After being arrested in Karachi in October 2001, at aged 14, he has spent several years in solitary confinement as an alleged al-Qa'ida-trained fighter.
In a May 29, 2008 email to U.S. Rep. Michael C. Burgess and U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, we requested that the tribunal records on these young POWs be opened for public scrutiny, because most American people were not aware that we were holding children in harsh prison detention.
On September 26, 2008, BASG brought the matter to the attention of Magnus Bergmar, Executive Director. Children’s World in Mariefred, Sweden, due to a lack of media coverage in the United States. (See excerpts below)
As the United States of America prepares to choose the next President, I am fearful the next administration and the rest of the world will forget about the underage captives taken in the combat zone and branded as “terrorist”. Some of these children were only 14 and 15 years old when detained by the U.S. military.
In the past, we written to you and kept you abreast of their plight. Now one of the government tribunal prosecutors has quit and is ready to testify that the rights of one of these children were violated.
These children were taken into custody, originally denied representation and parental visits. They were held incommunicado in isolated areas and tortured.
Now a former U.S. military prosecutor at Guantanamo who accuses his superiors of suppressing evidence refused Thursday to testify in a war crimes case unless he is granted immunity… Army Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, who was called as a defense witness, revealed a day earlier that he quit over what he called ethical lapses by prosecutors.
In another case brought before the federal courts in October 2008, BASG reported:
U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ordered the Bush administration Tuesday to immediately free 17 Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay into the United States... Over the objections of government lawyers, Urbina ordered their release in Washington D.C. by Friday.
“Because the Constitution prohibits indefinite detentions without cause, the continued detention is unlawful… I think the moment has arrived for the court to shine the light of constitutionality on the reasons for the detention,” Urbina said.
We are pleased to see the new U.S. administration plans to close the Guantanamo Bay facility, as articulated by Attorney General-nominee Eric Holder. But what will become of these children captured in the war zone is another question.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Justice Delayed is Justice Denied
RE: BART Police Officer arrested for murder of Oscar Grant
BART Board of Directors
P.O. Box 12688
Oakland , CA 94604-2688
(510) 464-6095
BoardofDirectors@bart.gov
c/o Kenneth A. Duron
District Secretary
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
300 Lakeside Drive, 23rd Floor, Oakland , California 94612
510.464.6080, fax: 510.464.6011
"Kduron" Kduron@bart.gov
To Directors: Carole Ward Allen, Bob Franklin, Joel Keller, Gail Murray, John McPartland, Thomas Blalock, Lynette Sweet, James Fang, Tom Radulovich
Thank you for taking the wise course of action that led to the arrest of the assailing officer. The statement issued by the BART Board of Directors may serve to heal the rift between the police department and the community. It is a model, if designed well and implemented, may well serve as a model of law enforcement around the nation.
The case still requires an answer to the Federal Civil Rights question:
Did the officer deny the victim the right to life, protected by federal due process of law? The officer acted as judge, jury, and executioner. This is summary execution under the color of law.
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin
01.14.2009
BART Board and General Manager react to arrest of former officer
Today, BART’s top officials issued the following statement following the arrest of former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle involved in the death of Oscar Grant on the morning of New Year’s Day at the Fruitvale BART Station:
"From the moment this shooting occurred, nine detectives worked diligently to conduct a thorough and complete investigation and to swiftly turn the results over to Alameda County District Attorney Thomas Orloff," BART Board President Thomas Blalock said. "The District Attorney has decided, based on the evidence presented to him, to bring charges. Mr. Mehserle is going to have to stand trail for the crime with which he is charged. This is now in the hands of the District Attorney and ultimately a jury to decide. This investigation shows that no one is above the law, but everyone is entitled to due process of the law. BART investigated this shooting thoroughly and treated the investigation and information no differently because the suspect involved was a police officer. Now we have to let due process take its course."
"We want the public to know that this one incident is not reflective of BART, its police or its employees," BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger said. "I have great confidence in the professionalism of the BART Police Department. This was a tragic event in which a life was lost for which someone has been arrested and charged. The BART Police Department is a professional force of 206 sworn men and women who work everyday to ensure the safety of more than 100 million customers who annually ride BART."
"We know that this shooting has caused anger and concern in the community. We pledge to work with the community to rebuild the trust it has placed in our transit agency," BART Board Member Carole Ward Allen said. "As the first step in that process, the BART Board of Directors on Monday established a Board Committee, which I chair, to review police practices and procedures, including hiring and training, and to identify opportunities to further strengthen the rigorous standards currently in place which meet or exceed California Peace Officer Standards and Training. Our goal is to make sure that something like this never happens again."
BACKGROUND ON BART POLICE
Rigorous standards for hiring exceed those established by the State of California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST); training is POST compliant and continues throughout an officer’s career. Established policies and procedures guide officer conduct. Officers are expected to maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct.
BART Police Department hiring and screening procedures are fully compliant with the California Commission of Peace Officer Standards and Training, and recommendations of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Read more on POST standards (outside link to POST website).
POST requirements include academy training, a full psychological and medical evaluation and a comprehensive background evaluation
BART exceeds POST requirements by requiring:
polygraph test
1 year of college
20 weeks of field training with daily officer review
1 year probationary period.
BART Board of Directors
P.O. Box 12688
Oakland , CA 94604-2688
(510) 464-6095
BoardofDirectors@bart.gov
c/o Kenneth A. Duron
District Secretary
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
300 Lakeside Drive, 23rd Floor, Oakland , California 94612
510.464.6080, fax: 510.464.6011
"Kduron" Kduron@bart.gov
To Directors: Carole Ward Allen, Bob Franklin, Joel Keller, Gail Murray, John McPartland, Thomas Blalock, Lynette Sweet, James Fang, Tom Radulovich
Thank you for taking the wise course of action that led to the arrest of the assailing officer. The statement issued by the BART Board of Directors may serve to heal the rift between the police department and the community. It is a model, if designed well and implemented, may well serve as a model of law enforcement around the nation.
The case still requires an answer to the Federal Civil Rights question:
Did the officer deny the victim the right to life, protected by federal due process of law? The officer acted as judge, jury, and executioner. This is summary execution under the color of law.
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin
01.14.2009
BART Board and General Manager react to arrest of former officer
Today, BART’s top officials issued the following statement following the arrest of former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle involved in the death of Oscar Grant on the morning of New Year’s Day at the Fruitvale BART Station:
"From the moment this shooting occurred, nine detectives worked diligently to conduct a thorough and complete investigation and to swiftly turn the results over to Alameda County District Attorney Thomas Orloff," BART Board President Thomas Blalock said. "The District Attorney has decided, based on the evidence presented to him, to bring charges. Mr. Mehserle is going to have to stand trail for the crime with which he is charged. This is now in the hands of the District Attorney and ultimately a jury to decide. This investigation shows that no one is above the law, but everyone is entitled to due process of the law. BART investigated this shooting thoroughly and treated the investigation and information no differently because the suspect involved was a police officer. Now we have to let due process take its course."
"We want the public to know that this one incident is not reflective of BART, its police or its employees," BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger said. "I have great confidence in the professionalism of the BART Police Department. This was a tragic event in which a life was lost for which someone has been arrested and charged. The BART Police Department is a professional force of 206 sworn men and women who work everyday to ensure the safety of more than 100 million customers who annually ride BART."
"We know that this shooting has caused anger and concern in the community. We pledge to work with the community to rebuild the trust it has placed in our transit agency," BART Board Member Carole Ward Allen said. "As the first step in that process, the BART Board of Directors on Monday established a Board Committee, which I chair, to review police practices and procedures, including hiring and training, and to identify opportunities to further strengthen the rigorous standards currently in place which meet or exceed California Peace Officer Standards and Training. Our goal is to make sure that something like this never happens again."
BACKGROUND ON BART POLICE
Rigorous standards for hiring exceed those established by the State of California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST); training is POST compliant and continues throughout an officer’s career. Established policies and procedures guide officer conduct. Officers are expected to maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct.
BART Police Department hiring and screening procedures are fully compliant with the California Commission of Peace Officer Standards and Training, and recommendations of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Read more on POST standards (outside link to POST website).
POST requirements include academy training, a full psychological and medical evaluation and a comprehensive background evaluation
BART exceeds POST requirements by requiring:
polygraph test
1 year of college
20 weeks of field training with daily officer review
1 year probationary period.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Demand Immediate Arrest of Suspect in Oscar Grant Shooting
National Civil Rights Group Demands Immediate Arrest of Suspect in Oscar Grant Shooting
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
U.S. and California Departments of Justice Urged to Wrest Investigation from District Attorney
Oakland, CA-
ColorOfChange.org called on California Attorney General Jerry Brown today to take over the investigation of the New Year's Eve shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant and to immediately arrest the transit police officer who killed Grant.
The Oakland-based organization has called on its more than 450,000 members nationwide to sign an open letter demanding that Brown do what Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff has not: arrest Johannes Mehserle and launch an aggressive, independent investigation worthy of the public's confidence.
"Anyone else caught on video shooting a defenseless man in the back would be in jail by now," said James Rucker, executive director of ColorOfChange.org. "It's been more than 10 days, and this killer is still free to walk the streets. The Alameda County District Attorney is failing the public and failing Oscar Grant."
Damning video evidence that has circulated online since the murder shows Mehserle shooting Grant at close range while Grant lay face down on a subway platform. Multiple videos clearly show that the shooting was unprovoked and unnecessary.
Mehserle has refused to talk to prosecutors and resigned from the BARTpolice force rather than face the agency's investigators. The Alameda County District Attorney, whose office could not remember prosecuting a fatal police-involved shooting in at least two decades, has said it will take weeks before he can decide whether to bring charges.
The group noted that California's Constitution directs the Attorney General to prosecute crimes that are ignored at the county level.
"Whenever in the opinion of the Attorney General any law of the State is not being adequately enforced in any county, it shall be the duty of the Attorney General to prosecute any violations of law of which the superior court shall have jurisdiction, and in such cases the Attorney General shall have all the powers of a district attorney," Article V, section 13 of the state's Constitution reads. "When required by the public interest or directed by the Governor, the Attorney General shall assist any district attorney in the discharge of the duties of that office."
Brown announced Saturday that he was placing a staffer in the Alameda County District Attorney's office to observe the investigation. But ColorOfChange.org argued Tuesday that Brown should order Mehserle arrested immediately and take over the investigation given the clarity of evidence in the case, the need for public confidence, and the Alameda County District Attorney's history of inaction in officer-involved shootings.
In addition to calling on California's Attorney General to arrest Mehserle and take over the investigation, ColorOfChange.org members are signing on to a letter urging the U.S. Department of Justice to launch its own independent investigation.
With nearly half a million members, ColorOfChange.org is the largest African-American online political organization in the country.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ColorOfChange.org's letters to California's Attorney General and the US Department of Justice can be found here:
http://colorofchange.org/oscar
ColorOfChange.org's message to its members can be found here:
http://colorofchange.org/oscar/message.html
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
U.S. and California Departments of Justice Urged to Wrest Investigation from District Attorney
Oakland, CA-
ColorOfChange.org called on California Attorney General Jerry Brown today to take over the investigation of the New Year's Eve shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant and to immediately arrest the transit police officer who killed Grant.
The Oakland-based organization has called on its more than 450,000 members nationwide to sign an open letter demanding that Brown do what Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff has not: arrest Johannes Mehserle and launch an aggressive, independent investigation worthy of the public's confidence.
"Anyone else caught on video shooting a defenseless man in the back would be in jail by now," said James Rucker, executive director of ColorOfChange.org. "It's been more than 10 days, and this killer is still free to walk the streets. The Alameda County District Attorney is failing the public and failing Oscar Grant."
Damning video evidence that has circulated online since the murder shows Mehserle shooting Grant at close range while Grant lay face down on a subway platform. Multiple videos clearly show that the shooting was unprovoked and unnecessary.
Mehserle has refused to talk to prosecutors and resigned from the BARTpolice force rather than face the agency's investigators. The Alameda County District Attorney, whose office could not remember prosecuting a fatal police-involved shooting in at least two decades, has said it will take weeks before he can decide whether to bring charges.
The group noted that California's Constitution directs the Attorney General to prosecute crimes that are ignored at the county level.
"Whenever in the opinion of the Attorney General any law of the State is not being adequately enforced in any county, it shall be the duty of the Attorney General to prosecute any violations of law of which the superior court shall have jurisdiction, and in such cases the Attorney General shall have all the powers of a district attorney," Article V, section 13 of the state's Constitution reads. "When required by the public interest or directed by the Governor, the Attorney General shall assist any district attorney in the discharge of the duties of that office."
Brown announced Saturday that he was placing a staffer in the Alameda County District Attorney's office to observe the investigation. But ColorOfChange.org argued Tuesday that Brown should order Mehserle arrested immediately and take over the investigation given the clarity of evidence in the case, the need for public confidence, and the Alameda County District Attorney's history of inaction in officer-involved shootings.
In addition to calling on California's Attorney General to arrest Mehserle and take over the investigation, ColorOfChange.org members are signing on to a letter urging the U.S. Department of Justice to launch its own independent investigation.
With nearly half a million members, ColorOfChange.org is the largest African-American online political organization in the country.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ColorOfChange.org's letters to California's Attorney General and the US Department of Justice can be found here:
http://colorofchange.org/oscar
ColorOfChange.org's message to its members can be found here:
http://colorofchange.org/oscar/message.html
Monday, January 12, 2009
Texas Youth Commission Sex Scandal UPDATE
TO MEMBERS OF THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE
Texas Youth Commission Sex Scandal UPDATE - from Eddie Griffin
Review the article below, it is the update and shortcomings of the TYC sexual assaults case. The investigation now reveals that innocent boys were double-bunked with known youth sex offenders in certain TYC facilities.
Such revelations make it appear that Jerry Madden and other state legislators either missed the slow boat the China in the last election or missed the essence of the problem, placed right in front of their oversight eyes.
Previously, we documented that a culture of corruption and sexual exploitation of youth prevailed inside the Texas Youth Commission. Under-age prisoners confined in youth detention facilities were being “turned out” for the pleasure of sexual exploiters like Warden Ray Brookins and administrator John Paul Hernandez.
Other cases of prison gang rapes were reported, in conjunction with allegations that these same victims were later victimized by agency officials.
It is a well-known practice for prison officials knowingly double-up innocent kids with known “booty bandits”, sometimes for pacification of dangerous inmates, and at other times, to use the humiliation and shame to force them into further sexual acts for their own deviant pleasures.
When such cases came to light through prison grievance proceedings, they were routinely squashed by the very perpetrators in their official office, operating under the colors of law, and immune from oversight.
What recourse does an inmate have to petition for redress of their grievances if the very people reviewing the grievances is the perpetrator of the crime, a system which we often referred to as “the fox watching the hen house”? These kids thus have no one to hear or heed their cries.
“It sounds like nothing has changed out there … that mistakes are still occurring that absolutely should not be,” said House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, who said he is demanding answers from Townsend.
Dear Rep. Jerry Madden:
You cannot reform a culture of corruption, as demonstrated in TYC, as it is currently structured and operated. The system breeds sociopath predators, and it corrupts the morals of those who hold absolute power… that is power, without legislative review.
If you turn over a rock, Jerry, as I told you before, don’t be surprised at what you find. Mike Ward of the Statesman is my witness.
Shaquanda Cotton’s case is a cause celebre for African-Americans because people can see a direct line from the schoolhouse to the courthouse to the jailhouse for black youth, even a first time offender. At the end of the juvenile justice process is incarceration inside a TYC prison, which is now discovered as a sexual paradise for pedophile officials, who used their influence to lengthen or shorten juvenile sentences, who use intimidation against staff, exploit inmate-on-inmate violence and rape to promote their perverse sexual appetites.
[Source: Local News Finally Gives Shaquanda Cotton Front Page Status by Eddie Griffin, April 9, 2007]
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2007
Texas Corrections Guards Indicted for Felony Sexual Assault on Adolescent Detainees
By Eddie Griffin
The Shaquanda Cotton case brought sorely needed attention to other outrages in the Texas Youth Corrections system, now leading indictments of TYC guards on charges of felony sexual assault of adolescents who were in their charge.
Mike Ward of the Texas' Austin American Statesman reports:
Two former administrators at the West Texas youth lockup whose alleged attacks on incarcerated teen-aged boys ignited a statewide corruption scandal were indicted today on felony sexual assault charges.
Ray Brookins, 42, the former assistant superintendent of the West Texas State School, and John Paul Hernandez, 41, the school's former principal, were named by a Ward County grand jury in Monahans on 13 charges involving six students — who were ages 16 to 19 at the time of the alleged attacks.
If convicted, the men face a maximum 20 years in prison on each count, authorities said.
Investigators said Brookins, arrested by Texas Rangers at his apartment in Northeast Austin, was being held in the Travis County jail on $100,000 bail. Hernandez, arrested at his parents' home in Fort Stockton, was being held in lieu of $600,000 bail, officials said.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who assisted prosecutors from his office in presenting the case, hailed the indictments as a first step to justice in the headline-grabbing scandal.
"With today's indictments, the victims of sexual abuse at West Texas State School are a step closer to the justice they deserve," Abbott said in a statement. Calling the cases "very troubling," he pledged that his office will "continue working with state and local officials to aggressively pursue allegations of wrongdoing at Texas Youth Commission facilities." Statesman.com
The Eddie G. Griffin (BASG) blog and other Afrosphere blogs are determined to keep the pressure on the State of Texas to thoroughly review and reform the system that has condemned many Black youths to prison time exceeding their judge-made minimum sentences, while other detained adolescents were the targets of on-staff pedophiles whose sexual predation was ignored by the state and federal governments.
Dear Jerry,
The legislature needs to address the issue head-on. There are too many youth incarcerated in TYC over frivolous misdemeanors and minor property crimes, who are sent to prison and crippled for life.
Why? Because some prison warden and his hunting buddies want to turn these kids into their personal little sex kitten… Jerry, who do you tolerate this, when you clearly see what it was, and you have oversight charges?
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin (BASG)
Inquiry widens into recent TYC sex assaults
Several boys who were sexually assaulted at a lockup had been double-bunked with youths accused of sex crimes, officials confirmed.
Inquiry widens into recent TYC sex assaults
By Mike Ward | Friday, January 9, 2009, 12:01 PM
Texas Youth Commission investigators are trying to determine why several incarcerated teenaged boys who were sexually assaulted at a Waco-area lockup had been double-bunked with other youths accused of sex crimes, officials confirmed this afternoon.
Cell assignments such as that should have been prohibited.
In one case, officials said, one of the youths with no sex-offense record was assaulted after being bunked with a boy with such a record.
According to a confidential update provided to legislative leaders earlier this week by TYC Executive Commissioner Cheri Townsend, five youth-on-youth sex assaults were reported. While two youths have since recanted in one case, the others remain under investigation.
Two have been referred to prosecutors, two are awaiting lab test results, according to the memo.
According to officials familiar with the cases, the youths involved are between 15 and 17 years old.
“Of the youth (alleged victims and perpetrators) involved in the five cases, one youth (an alleged perpetrator) had no previous record of sexual assaults,” Townsend’s memo states.
“It’s is being looked at — how that happened — and how policies and practices were being followed,” said agency spokesman Jim Hurley. “We have a full investigation underway.”
Other officials familiar with the criminal investigation said it has widened in recent days to determine how the mistakes occurred in November and December at the McLennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility in Mart, outside Waco — despite strict policies enacted after a sex-abuse scandal brought top-to-bottom reforms at the agency just two years ago.
Authorities also want to determine which Youth Commission officials signed off on the double-bunking, whether the agency’s new classification system failed in red-flagging the assignments and why the mistaken assignments were not discovered until after the youths reported being assaulted.
Investigators are also looking at whether agency officials did enough to prevent the assaults.
Citing the ongoing investigation, Hurley said he could discuss further details on instructions of top agency officials. No charges have been filed, he said.
Legislative leaders who have worked for two years on reforms at the troubled agency are hopping mad about the cases.
“It sounds like nothing has changed out there … that mistakes are still occurring that absolutely should not be,” said House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, who said he is demanding answers from Townsend.
“This is unacceptable.”
Townsend listed several operational changes that have been made to ensure such mistakes don’t happen again, including a review of room assignments at all Youth Commission lockups, sexual-assault prevention training for staff and more frequent checks by staff on cells that are double-bunked.
The memo hints that a backlog of psychiatric exams at incarcerated teen-agers may have been a factor in the cases, and says that “intake staff have been directed to review the entire criminal and social histories of youth before making dorm and room assignments to ensure proper placement of youth who have committed sexual offenses,” the memo states.
The document also notes that the agency’s Safe Housing Policy is still awaiting approval, despite earlier public assurances by Youth Commission officials that it was in place.
Two years ago this spring, the agency made headlines for not properly investigating thousands of alleged sexual assaults over several years — youth-on-youth, youth-on-staff, staff-on-youth — amid allegations that top officials covered up repeated policy and criminal violations.
As a result, most of the agency’s top management was fired and it was placed in a form of receivership that ended only last October, after Gov. Rick Perry was assured that Legislature-mandated reforms had fixed a myriad of management and operational flaws.
Two former top officials at two lockups — Ray Brookins and John Paul Hernandez — were charged with having sex with several boys, and are awaiting trial. They were among more than two dozen onetime employees and others who faced criminal charges stemming from the thousands of assault allegations that were investigated.
Texas Youth Commission Sex Scandal UPDATE - from Eddie Griffin
Review the article below, it is the update and shortcomings of the TYC sexual assaults case. The investigation now reveals that innocent boys were double-bunked with known youth sex offenders in certain TYC facilities.
Such revelations make it appear that Jerry Madden and other state legislators either missed the slow boat the China in the last election or missed the essence of the problem, placed right in front of their oversight eyes.
Previously, we documented that a culture of corruption and sexual exploitation of youth prevailed inside the Texas Youth Commission. Under-age prisoners confined in youth detention facilities were being “turned out” for the pleasure of sexual exploiters like Warden Ray Brookins and administrator John Paul Hernandez.
Other cases of prison gang rapes were reported, in conjunction with allegations that these same victims were later victimized by agency officials.
It is a well-known practice for prison officials knowingly double-up innocent kids with known “booty bandits”, sometimes for pacification of dangerous inmates, and at other times, to use the humiliation and shame to force them into further sexual acts for their own deviant pleasures.
When such cases came to light through prison grievance proceedings, they were routinely squashed by the very perpetrators in their official office, operating under the colors of law, and immune from oversight.
What recourse does an inmate have to petition for redress of their grievances if the very people reviewing the grievances is the perpetrator of the crime, a system which we often referred to as “the fox watching the hen house”? These kids thus have no one to hear or heed their cries.
“It sounds like nothing has changed out there … that mistakes are still occurring that absolutely should not be,” said House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, who said he is demanding answers from Townsend.
Dear Rep. Jerry Madden:
You cannot reform a culture of corruption, as demonstrated in TYC, as it is currently structured and operated. The system breeds sociopath predators, and it corrupts the morals of those who hold absolute power… that is power, without legislative review.
If you turn over a rock, Jerry, as I told you before, don’t be surprised at what you find. Mike Ward of the Statesman is my witness.
Shaquanda Cotton’s case is a cause celebre for African-Americans because people can see a direct line from the schoolhouse to the courthouse to the jailhouse for black youth, even a first time offender. At the end of the juvenile justice process is incarceration inside a TYC prison, which is now discovered as a sexual paradise for pedophile officials, who used their influence to lengthen or shorten juvenile sentences, who use intimidation against staff, exploit inmate-on-inmate violence and rape to promote their perverse sexual appetites.
[Source: Local News Finally Gives Shaquanda Cotton Front Page Status by Eddie Griffin, April 9, 2007]
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2007
Texas Corrections Guards Indicted for Felony Sexual Assault on Adolescent Detainees
By Eddie Griffin
The Shaquanda Cotton case brought sorely needed attention to other outrages in the Texas Youth Corrections system, now leading indictments of TYC guards on charges of felony sexual assault of adolescents who were in their charge.
Mike Ward of the Texas' Austin American Statesman reports:
Two former administrators at the West Texas youth lockup whose alleged attacks on incarcerated teen-aged boys ignited a statewide corruption scandal were indicted today on felony sexual assault charges.
Ray Brookins, 42, the former assistant superintendent of the West Texas State School, and John Paul Hernandez, 41, the school's former principal, were named by a Ward County grand jury in Monahans on 13 charges involving six students — who were ages 16 to 19 at the time of the alleged attacks.
If convicted, the men face a maximum 20 years in prison on each count, authorities said.
Investigators said Brookins, arrested by Texas Rangers at his apartment in Northeast Austin, was being held in the Travis County jail on $100,000 bail. Hernandez, arrested at his parents' home in Fort Stockton, was being held in lieu of $600,000 bail, officials said.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who assisted prosecutors from his office in presenting the case, hailed the indictments as a first step to justice in the headline-grabbing scandal.
"With today's indictments, the victims of sexual abuse at West Texas State School are a step closer to the justice they deserve," Abbott said in a statement. Calling the cases "very troubling," he pledged that his office will "continue working with state and local officials to aggressively pursue allegations of wrongdoing at Texas Youth Commission facilities." Statesman.com
The Eddie G. Griffin (BASG) blog and other Afrosphere blogs are determined to keep the pressure on the State of Texas to thoroughly review and reform the system that has condemned many Black youths to prison time exceeding their judge-made minimum sentences, while other detained adolescents were the targets of on-staff pedophiles whose sexual predation was ignored by the state and federal governments.
Dear Jerry,
The legislature needs to address the issue head-on. There are too many youth incarcerated in TYC over frivolous misdemeanors and minor property crimes, who are sent to prison and crippled for life.
Why? Because some prison warden and his hunting buddies want to turn these kids into their personal little sex kitten… Jerry, who do you tolerate this, when you clearly see what it was, and you have oversight charges?
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin (BASG)
Inquiry widens into recent TYC sex assaults
Several boys who were sexually assaulted at a lockup had been double-bunked with youths accused of sex crimes, officials confirmed.
Inquiry widens into recent TYC sex assaults
By Mike Ward | Friday, January 9, 2009, 12:01 PM
Texas Youth Commission investigators are trying to determine why several incarcerated teenaged boys who were sexually assaulted at a Waco-area lockup had been double-bunked with other youths accused of sex crimes, officials confirmed this afternoon.
Cell assignments such as that should have been prohibited.
In one case, officials said, one of the youths with no sex-offense record was assaulted after being bunked with a boy with such a record.
According to a confidential update provided to legislative leaders earlier this week by TYC Executive Commissioner Cheri Townsend, five youth-on-youth sex assaults were reported. While two youths have since recanted in one case, the others remain under investigation.
Two have been referred to prosecutors, two are awaiting lab test results, according to the memo.
According to officials familiar with the cases, the youths involved are between 15 and 17 years old.
“Of the youth (alleged victims and perpetrators) involved in the five cases, one youth (an alleged perpetrator) had no previous record of sexual assaults,” Townsend’s memo states.
“It’s is being looked at — how that happened — and how policies and practices were being followed,” said agency spokesman Jim Hurley. “We have a full investigation underway.”
Other officials familiar with the criminal investigation said it has widened in recent days to determine how the mistakes occurred in November and December at the McLennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility in Mart, outside Waco — despite strict policies enacted after a sex-abuse scandal brought top-to-bottom reforms at the agency just two years ago.
Authorities also want to determine which Youth Commission officials signed off on the double-bunking, whether the agency’s new classification system failed in red-flagging the assignments and why the mistaken assignments were not discovered until after the youths reported being assaulted.
Investigators are also looking at whether agency officials did enough to prevent the assaults.
Citing the ongoing investigation, Hurley said he could discuss further details on instructions of top agency officials. No charges have been filed, he said.
Legislative leaders who have worked for two years on reforms at the troubled agency are hopping mad about the cases.
“It sounds like nothing has changed out there … that mistakes are still occurring that absolutely should not be,” said House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, who said he is demanding answers from Townsend.
“This is unacceptable.”
Townsend listed several operational changes that have been made to ensure such mistakes don’t happen again, including a review of room assignments at all Youth Commission lockups, sexual-assault prevention training for staff and more frequent checks by staff on cells that are double-bunked.
The memo hints that a backlog of psychiatric exams at incarcerated teen-agers may have been a factor in the cases, and says that “intake staff have been directed to review the entire criminal and social histories of youth before making dorm and room assignments to ensure proper placement of youth who have committed sexual offenses,” the memo states.
The document also notes that the agency’s Safe Housing Policy is still awaiting approval, despite earlier public assurances by Youth Commission officials that it was in place.
Two years ago this spring, the agency made headlines for not properly investigating thousands of alleged sexual assaults over several years — youth-on-youth, youth-on-staff, staff-on-youth — amid allegations that top officials covered up repeated policy and criminal violations.
As a result, most of the agency’s top management was fired and it was placed in a form of receivership that ended only last October, after Gov. Rick Perry was assured that Legislature-mandated reforms had fixed a myriad of management and operational flaws.
Two former top officials at two lockups — Ray Brookins and John Paul Hernandez — were charged with having sex with several boys, and are awaiting trial. They were among more than two dozen onetime employees and others who faced criminal charges stemming from the thousands of assault allegations that were investigated.
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