Posted on 04/15/2008 10:54:57 AM PDT by SmithL
SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court has upheld $600,000 in damages to a state prison guard who said she was fired after complaining that she was being harassed by naked male inmates.
The complaints by Deanna Freitag led to an investigation by the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's inspector general, who found in 2000 that maximum-security inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison had regularly subjected female guards to "lewd exhibitionism and exhibitionist masturbation" and that the warden and other officials were doing little to stop it.
Freitag, who had worked at the prison in Del Norte County since 1996, was fired by Pelican Bay officials shortly before those findings were issued. Her bosses accused her of fabricating incidents in the reports she had been filing since September 1998.
In her lawsuit, Freitag said officials brushed off her complaints and disciplined the prisoners mildly, if at all.
A federal court jury in San Francisco awarded Freitag $500,000 for lost wages and $100,000 for emotional distress in a March 2003 verdict against the department, the warden and other prison officials.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2006 that the corrections department had failed to protect Freitag from sexual harassment. But the court returned her case to the trial judge to consider the effect of a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limited government employees' protection from retaliation for criticizing workplace conditions.
In a 2-1 ruling Friday, the appeals court upheld Freitag's damage award, agreeing with U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
How about a taser, aiming for the crotch. That would change their minds in a hurry.
I’m only guessing here, but I would suspect that the guards can administer physical correction for certain behaviors, but this would require an administrative punishment, which would have to be administered by the Warden or other administrator. Guards can’t arbitrarily throw a prisoner in solitary or restrict their access to the yard, etc.
I agree with you. I have to wonder, however, if some of this comes from frustration at not being permitted to do anything about it herself, (i.e. zapping the guys' privates with a stun gun).
Might get the ACLU's panties in a wad.
I suspect that would work.
susie
Common sense not to be found anywhaere.
WHAT’S A WOMAN WORKING AS A GUARD IN A MALE PRISON FOR?
What kind of people did she expect to find behind bars?
I suppose I would agree with you in a perfect world but this is the real world and women being in combat has absolutely nothing to do with this.
If you think these men in max are going to start acting like human beings you’re kidding yourself, they’re there in the first place because they don’t fit the mold of human beings.
Most that she can do is right a case on that Offender.
If the inmates are accused of “lewd exhibitionism” and “exhibitionist masturbation” to that, then they need some help prison can’t give! Either that or it’s a maximum security prison for the blind!
Is it just me, or does anybody else think it might be a good idea to have male guards only at male prisons and female guards only at female prisons? Having people guard the opposite sex is absolutely begging for something bad to happen.
Well then Dr. send in the 5'8" 130 pound female guards to do it!
That ought to go over well with some 6'4" 290 pound lumberhead with nothing to lose.
Obviously, this female got into the wrong line of work and is now looking cash out and exit. It would have been better of all if she opted to sell jewelry at Nordstroms, rather than work in the joint with vicious brutal murders that are more than capable of ringing her bell with little effort.
Well, like you said... in a perfect world.
Point is, while most of the people in there, are there for life... some aren’t.
I’ve worked in a prison. Yes, they CAN and DO act like human beings... and they need to be made to do so. Period.
Shock belts for them all! And give the dainty little guard girl the button!
Butt yeah! Women guarding men, and men guarding women is stoopid!
Political correctness and not improbably, affirmative action..
I agree. She couldn’t have possibly thought that something like this wouldn’t happen. And it would have gotten worse when the cons saw that it bothered her.
Even if we ignore the fact that it is asinine to have a female guard in a male maximum security prison, and if we ignore the fact that anyone who can’t handle being harassed by prisoners should not be a prison guard, my main question is: why are the taxpayers the ones who are punished for the bad behavior of prisoners?
And when the battery packs wear out, send in the dainty little guard girl to change them!
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