A BELATED “NOT THE SHARPEST TACK IN THE BOX” AWARD.

In perusing my archival files, I discovered my case No. 135-04, a case in which a Captain at the California Institution For Men wrote and issued a Letter Of Instruction to a subordinate supervisor. The problem came when the allegations cited on the, disputed, Letter Of Instruction were fraught with lies, dishonesty and fraud.

For this reason, a complaint¹ was filed with the State Personnel Board, against the Captain, as per the instruction found in Government Code §19583.5 in which the attendant subsections of GC §19572 were cited as cause for discipline against the malfeasant Captain.

In defense of himself, in one of the most stunning examples of creative writing I have ever seen, this Captain wrote a, self-serving, letter of explanation to Margaret Teague, Staff Counsel, Legal Affairs Division, California Department of Corrections, in which he states that the Letter of Instruction was written by another individual and he merely signed and served it.

Even though there is no empirical evidence that this was true (indeed there were no other signatures on the Letter Of Instruction nor any reference to a third party author within the document), Margaret Teague adopted his fabrication which she regurgitated to the State Personnel Board as the official Departmental defense of this Captain's dishonesty, never addressing or disputing the dishonesty of the Captain which formed the basis of the original complaint. It would appear that analytical thought is not a necessary prerequisite for passing the Bar Exams in California.

Wow, Golly Gee Marge, maybe this other individual was the Captain's clone???

Now we come to the official letter from the State Personnel Board who swallowed this preposterous story "hook, line and sinker". In a letter authored (at least signed) by Stacey Burdue, Associate Personnel Analyst, State Personnel Board, on the basis of this superficial and self-serving explanation of the Department of Corrections, the complaint was denied.

In my experience, when dealing with politically powerful individuals, this type of myopia by the State Personnel Board is the rule rather than the exception.

In the annual training sessions that are required of all Correctional Officers, employees are instructed to utilize worthless avenues to process whistleblower complaints and reports of employee misconduct. Roads to nowhere such as:

1. Processing them through the Appointing Authority (Warden)

and

2. Processing them through the State Personnel Board.

Margaret Teague and Stacey Burdue, for your lack of analytical abilities and general gullibility, I award you the, never-to-be-prestigious, "NOT THE SHARPEST TACK IN THE BOX" AWARD.

Lorraine Bradley
http://prisoncorruption.blogspot.com

___________________________

¹"Request To File Charges"

Dear Santa . . .

By Gordon Campbell, Daily Bulletin Editorial Artist.

THE SHAM!

Employees of the California Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (CalDorc) are, continuously, being spoon-fed the expectation that employee misconduct must be fully and expeditiously reported. Since it is written Departmental policy, it seems reasonable that this policy should be followed. However, there seems to be no expectation that any of this reporting will amount to anything even though there are attendent written Departmental policies directing Correctional Managers and Administrators as to the proper disposition of these reports.

In the absence of any expectation of properly processing these reports, the reporting itself creates nothing more than "busy work" for correctional employees which waste taxpayer dollars due to the, ultimate, failure of departmental officials to act to correct the misconduct being reported.

Indeed employee misconduct is rampant within CalDORC, however, it's not the type that is being resolved or even recognized through established departmental processes. It is as old as CalDORC itself and as elusive as Big Foot. It is misconduct perpetrated by correctional managers and administrators and it isn't scrutinized until a public stench is created, through tragic circumstances, in which CalDORC is forced to act.

As I explained to you, the reader, on Sunday, October 24, 2004 in my blog article entitled "The Folly of Reformation in YACA" (this was before the agency name had been changed to CalDORC), the first problem which must be overcome before misconduct reporting becomes anything more than busy work, is the prejudice against upward reporting. The foxes continue to watch the hen house as they sit in judgement of which reports will be acted on and which reports will find their way to the round file, especially reports with their names or the names of their cronies on them.

In a supreme act of hypocrisy and "Do what I say and not what I do.", CalDORC has tinkered together a class in "ethics" as part of a Correctional Officer's annual training. Clearly the course content for this eight hour class was researched outside of CalDORC since the concept of ethics is foreign to the upper bastions of this agency. This class would seem to constitute the "comedy relief" portion of the training.

"We have seen the enemy and it is us."

Lorraine Bradley
http://prisoncorruption.blogspot.com

Rotting Fish!

In reading the newspaper today, I can only say that the long assailed California government employee's unions are the only buffer between the State of California and total melt down.

It is being reported by the Los Angeles Times that Governor Schwarzenegger is being ordered by U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson to appoint a chief of health care services to run the troubled prison health care system that, reportedly, "kills an average of one California inmate each week."¹

The prison health care system was placed under Federal receivership earlier this year and continues to be dysfunctional in the wake of the mounting frustration of Judge Henderson, who had, at one time, considered placing the entire Department of Corrections under receivership but chose to limit the receivership to the health care system instead.

Even though the California Correctional Peace Officers Association has been assailed by Governor Schwarzenegger, Judge Henderson and the mainstream news media as "running the California Department of Corrections", in retrospect, this was not a bad thing, considering the total inadequacy of the Correctional Managers and Administrators who have been promoted to do this job.

Since the failings of the California Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections has, seemingly, increased under the Schwarzenegger administration, the involvement of the Correctional Officer's Union in CalDORC management seemed to have a positive impact until Schwarzenegger's new prison chief, Roderick Hickman, slammed the door in CCPOA's face.

Now, the most recent scandal to hit the Capitol is Governor Schwarzenegger's production and utilization of, taxpayer-supported, "Fake News Videos" in support of his, recently defeated, November propositions.

In his ruling, "Superior Court Judge Lloyd G. Connelly of Sacramento ordered that Schwarzenegger refrain from producing and distributing the videos, ruling that state law bars officials from using tax money to pay for one-sided releases, particularly when they advocate pending proposals to alter state laws and regulations."²

Clearly, with the moral compass gone and the rudder broken, the "Good Ship California" continues to drift into troubled waters.

In Russia there is a saying that, "A fish rots from the head", perhaps this explains the "Sacramento Stench".

Lorraine Bradley
http://prisoncorruption.blogspot.com

______________________
¹ L.A. Times, December 2, 2005: "Gov. Is Ordered to Name Prison Healthcare Czar" By Jenifer Warren, Times Staff Writer.

² L.A. Times, December 2, 2005: "Gov.'s Fake News Videos Ruled Illegal" By Dan Morain, Times Staff Writer.