"THE WARDEN MADE ME DO IT!"

"It's Good To Be The King."

Throughout history, one of the prerogatives of despots has been, and remains to this day, the ability to dispense privileges to favored members of their court, while disenfranchising those whom have failed to receive the appropriate benediction, and the fiefdom of the California Institution For Men (CIM) is no exception.

The newest addition to the long list of CIM's imperious rulers has wasted no time in the incorporation of this philosophy into the "Poulos Doctrine".

Within California State Service and, more specifically, the California Department Of Rehabilitation and Corrections (CalDORC) there is the principle that "Reasonable Accommodation"¹ will apply equally to all employees. However, the Departmental Operations Manual seems to have, secretly, been modified by the "Poulos Doctrine".

In CalDORC, "Alternate Job Placement" is colloquially termed "Light Duty Assignment" and, on Thursday, August 25, 2005, the fax machines at the State Compensation Insurance Fund rang off of their hooks as lists of employees with Workers Compensation Claims were being removed from their Light Duty Assignments at CIM. Coincidentally, just the prior day, on Wednesday, August 24, 2005, one of my clients filed a "Report Of Employee Misconduct" against the Health and Safety Officer for, allegedly, having perpetrated criminal discrimination against him for having filed a workers compensation claim². An act, so she asserts, that occurred under the direction of Warden Poulos.

Instead of making my client like the other Workers Compensation related, Light Duty employees, they were made in the image of my client - out of work and going home. If what the Health And Safety Officer is reported to have said is true, instead of resolving my client's allegation of a violation of law, Warden Poulos chose to send everyone who had Light Duty and a Workers Compensation Claim, HOME, and discriminate against all of them instead of just one. Perhaps it was his belief that this would make the unlawful discrimination more equitable? As Warden Poulos said in a written communique, he will pick and choose on a "case-by-case basis" those who will receive light duty dispensation.

Yes, I said discriminate. There is, at least, one, supervisory, member of the king's court who avoided the emperor's wrath and was allowed to remain on his Light Duty Assignment, even though his injury is reported as non job related and there is no Workers Compensation Claim resulting from it.

This should serve as notice to all industrially injured workers at CIM - you have no place or standing in the Court Of The Royal Wardenship.

More To Come!

Lorraine Bradley
http://prisoncorruption.blogspot.com

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¹D.O.M. §31010.9.1 Reasonable Accommodation (in part):
"All employees who incur disabling injuries or illness and wish to remain employed shall be provided with reasonable accommodation. This includes the necessary assistance and appropriate employment options to remain productive state employees. Alternative job placement will also be provided when appropriate and if a transfer is necessary, contacts with prospective hiring authorities shall be the responsibility of the local Reasonable Accommodation Coordinator (RAC) (who is usually the AA Coordinator)."

²Labor Code §132 (a), a misdemeanor

Regarding the peasants, “Let Them Eat Cake!”

The popular history of the French Revolution and the causes surrounding it center on King Louis XVI (1774-1792) and his queen, Marie Antoinette. The prevailing and unquestioned philosophy was that elites should rule society. The arrogance and ignorance of the French royalty and their indifference toward the austere plight of the peasantry is summed up in that one fateful statement that has been attributed to the tactless Queen of France.

When informed by a member of her court that the peasants were starving and had no bread to eat, Marie Antoinette’s legendary response was, “Then let them eat cake.”, and, even though this statement is controverted by scholars of the French Revolution, they all agree that this statement represented the acrimonious relationship between the Royalty and the proletariat.

Now we transition from France in the late 1700s to Chino, California, USA, in the year 2005 anno Domini.

In an article written by Mason Stockstill and published in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, the headline reads, “Repairs needed after CIM riot”. This story articulates the damage that was inflicted on the physical plant of the East Facility of the California Institution for Men by the rioting inmate population on September 22, 2005.

However, as I have written in prior columns on this blog, there has been a historic lack of maintenance at this prison over the decades and it still continues to this day. The repairs that are spoken of in Mr. Stockstill’s article, as reported by Tim Shirlock, CIM’s Public Information Officer, are the ones that made it to the paper and they represent the small tip of a fiscal iceberg which threatens to sink Warden Poulos’ ship which has just come in.

Further, nothing was learned from the Manual Gonzales tragedy as a multitude of uniformed staff have yet to be issued stab-proof vests, thereby inviting future tragedies.

The logical question that arises is whether or not Sacramento has ever provided or is now providing the California Institution for Men with sufficient maintenance funding to properly continue their mission of providing safety to the public or the staff working at CIM. Prison maintenance appears to have taken a back seat to Warden Poulos’ creature comforts while Warden of CIM.

In the front of the California Institution for Men are approximately 10 State owned houses which serve as the, low rent, taxpayer subsidized, residences of the, highly paid, Warden and his Court, and Warden Poulos has recently begun preparing his house for his occupancy.

As Warden Poulos reported in his recent meetings with line staff, this preparation includes a new fence around, and a paint job for, his Warden’s Mansion. However, there are reports from CIM insiders that these repairs are far more extensive than Warden Poulos admitted at these meetings.

Reportedly, there is to be a complete renovation of this house including, but not limited to, all new major appliances, new paint, a new fence, and modernized bathrooms.

It seems odd that the prior residents of this house didn’t see the need for this level of, taxpayer subsidized, home improvement. More unusual still is the timing of all of this restoration.

If these reports are discovered to be true, through a proper external investigation, it leaves one to wonder just how much the necessary renovations of the prison will have to be split with the King’s new castle.

Perhaps the Inspector General could investigate and ascertain the veracity of these reports?

Perhaps the new Warden considers his own creature comforts to be a part of his fiduciary responsibility to the public. After all, Mel Brooks said a mouthful in his movie “History Of The World, Part I” in which he stated, “It’s good to be the King.”

Lorraine Bradley
http://prisoncorruption.blogspot.com

TMTCTMTRTS - Part 2

Insiders at the California Institution for Men are reporting that, days after I published my October 11, 2005 article, " The More Things Change, The More They Remain The Same.",¹ the individual reported as having committed misdemeanor employee misconduct², for whom Warden Poulos balked at referring this investigation to the Office of Internal Affairs, as is his duty³, has been transferred to another agency within California State Service, the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS).

If pressure had been mounting on Warden Poulos to follow Departmental policy and refer this investigation to the Office of Internal Affairs, the transfer of this individual to an agency outside of the California Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (CalDORC) will bring a halt to such an investigation due to lack of jurisdiction of CalDORC's Office of Internal Affairs (OIA) to conduct investigations into employees of other agencies. This former Health and Safety Officer of CIM fell into this category upon her transfer.

This would seem to be CalDORC's version of the "Witness Protection Program", and her transfer would contain the additional benefit of preventing testimony by her, during the course of her interrogation by OIA, that would serve to implicate any of her superiors who were complicit with or, perhaps, even directed her actions.

Regarding the reported incident of Workers Compensation related retaliation, she has reportedly stated in the presence of others, "Don't blame me, the Warden made me do it."

Assuming that her statement regarding her direction by Warden Poulos was true, then this transfer would appear to be for the self-serving purpose of Warden Poulos protecting himself.

As with Ed Alameda and Pelican Bay, another investigation halted and more justice obstructed.

Just a thought - what do you think?

Lorraine Bradley
http://prisoncorruption.blogspot.com

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¹ http://prisoncorruption.blogspot.com

² Labor Code §132a.(1)

³ Departmental Operations Manual: §31140.4.1; §31140.4.2; §31140.6.2

The More Things Change, The More They Remain The Same.

After my career as a Correctional Officer at the California Institution For Men (CIM) had ended, I studied and became a certified Paralegal. Since then I have acquired a Departmental clientele, some of which are employed at the California Institution For Men, Chino, for whom I have written and filed various documents with various levels of management and administration of the California Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (CalDORC).

One of the managerial practices that has transitioned through several changes of wardens at CIM is that of the perpetration and condonation of criminal activities within the Workers Compensation venue, committed against employees which have filed or made known their intention to file, claims¹. Although the California Institution For Men has a brand new administration, they are plagued with the management style of their predecessors.

In a recent communication with one of my clients², whom had filed a report of employee misconduct reporting Workers Compensation related retaliation, CIM's Acting Warden, M.E. Poulos, displayed his misunderstanding regarding his obligation to refer criminal investigations to the Office of Internal Affairs (OIA)³, a division of CalDORC which exists outside of the institution and, theoretically, outside of institutional politics.

In this correspondence, Acting Warden Poulos erroneously stated that it was his responsibility and sole discretion to initiate a criminal investigation (Category 2). Indeed, if this were more than mere ignorance of his established duties, it would harken back to the days when Ed Alameda, past Director of CalDORC, halted an investigation into staff at Pelican Bay, an act which Federal Judge Thelton Henderson characterized as "Obstruction of Justice".

Since all CalDORC investigations exist under a shroud of secrecy, it is not possible for an outsider to ascertain whether this misconduct report has been properly referred to OIA, albeit, having been politically poisoned in the process. However, if not, hopefully this editorial will prompt Acting Warden Poulos to take the appropriate action, however, none of us should hold our breath.

It is true that the more things change the more they remain the same.

Lorraine Bradley
http://prisoncorruption.blogspot.com

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¹ Labor Code §132 a. (1), a misdemeanor.

² This client has permitted me to refer to this report in this editorial.

³ Departmental Operations Manual: §31140.4.1; §31140.4.2; §31140.6.2