County to pay $4 million to settle jail-beating lawsuit (Illegal immigrant)

Orange County Register ^ | April 20, 2009 | NORBERTO SANTANA JR. and TONY SAAVEDRA

[anglian]

County officials have agreed to pay more than $4 million to settle a lawsuit brought by an undocumented Mexican immigrant who was beaten by inmates while in custody at the Orange County jail. The settlement appears to be the largest ever paid by Orange County for an in-custody incident involving county sheriffs, according to county officials and the man's lawyer.

[anglian]

Fernando Ramirez, then 21

[chuck_the_tv_out]

why not; just throw the debt on the pile. it's not their money.

[wolfcreek]

Tough cookies. If this happened to me or another American citizen, I doubt there would be any sympathy.

[mysterio]

Illegal or not, the safety of anyone in jail should be guaranteed. They are PRISONERS, they should not even be able to fight or form gangs in jail.

I know the popular sentiment is "I hope criminal x gets beaten up / raped in jail, it would serve him right, blah, blah, blah," but that's short sighted. Someday YOU might be in there on trumped up charges or a false accusation, and then it's your safety on the line.

Jails that can't keep prisoners from harming each other should be sued out of existance and replaced by jails that can. Same thing with prisons.

[Retired COB]

No sympathy here.

Illegal aliens should not have standing in any of our courts for any reason. They should not be here in the first place, so if they don't belong here how can they have a justifiable grievance?

I wonder what would happen to me if I sneaked into Mexico and did the crime he was charged with? Do you think I'd be allow to sue a government in Mexico?

A reasonable person would maintain a low profile if they were illegal - so as not to invite attention. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

[End Times Sentinel]

I know the popular sentiment is "I hope criminal x gets beaten up / raped in jail, it would serve him right, blah, blah, blah," but that's short sighted. Someday YOU might be in there on trumped up charges or a false accusation, and then it's your safety on the line.

Even without that as a possibility, rape and gang beatings aren't part of what we as a society should be advocating as punishment.

Lock them up for 30 years with one hour a day for exercise, whatever, but no beatings or rapes. This isn't Saudi Arabia.

That being said, I don't know that a cash pay out to an illegal is the remedy in this case.

[shadeaud]

OK, let's make prisons co-ed. with round table discussions about why prisoner A doesn't like prisoner B because he is from another group. A kind of group therapy and then all the prisoners go back to their bunks for a romantic dinner and some safe sex. Anything else.
Prison is designed to be a deterrent and it's unfortunate that nobody has figured out how to keep the yutes from entering the dark side, but until it is discovered, there will continue to be gangs, crime and cellsex.

[NEMDF]

I agree. Same with prisons that do not provide adequate food or medical care. The prisoners ARE paying their debt to society. Currently a big scandal brewing in IL about an inmate who died at Menard for inadequate medical care. Seems the state (IL - who would have thought?) has a $7 million/year contract with a group to provide medical care for that prison. The doctor is on probation for self-prescribing. Meanwhile at least 2 deaths in IL prisons in recent weeks due to improper medical care. These inmates had sentences under 5 years.

[mysterio]

OK, let's make prisons co-ed. with round table discussions about why prisoner A doesn't like prisoner B because he is from another group. A kind of group therapy and then all the prisoners go back to their bunks for

No. I would, however, put them one to a cell and have all interaction between them supervised by a guard who doesn't look the other way. And if one of them gets violent in a meal / yard situation, that prisoner eats in his cell and doesn't get to go out to the yard for a good long time. We can break that gang stuff up right quick in a prison setting. And prisons should get sued out of existance until they get that crap under control.

[Moltke]

Let me guess...the lawyer takes 3.99 million plus expenses and the illegal gets a McDonald’s Happy Meal and a bus ticket back to Sh!t Hole, Mexico? OK. /s

[Dapper 26]

Isn’t this a great country?