It was forty years ago this summer that I began working in local corrections in Alabama. At that time,there was an emerging concern about lack of standards,guidelines,policies,etc.,to guide local jail officials. This concern,coupled with an absence of formal training,led to a search for solutions. Prompting that search was the growing amount of litigation against local jails.
INMATE MARRIAGE:
The “I DOs” and DON’Ts of Sound Policy
It’s been a few years since the United States Supreme Court announced their controversial decision ruling that the U.S. Constitution provides same-sex couples the right to marry1. The court ruled 5-4 that the Constitution’s guarantees of due process and equal protection under the law mean that states cannot ban same-sex marriages. The landmark ruling made gay marriage legal in all 50 states.
Sheriff’s Office or Sheriff’s Department?
In early 2011,I was comfortably ensconced in what I believed would be my retirement home. Sitting on a ridge overlooking the Dunnavant Valley in north Alabama,the house location allowed me to look across the valley and view the changing seasons and the abundant wildlife which frequented the property. All was good.
ARE YOU PREA READY? (Part 2)
by Tate McCotter and Laurie Gibbs
*NOTE* – This is part two of last month’s “Solutions to PREA”
Solutions to PREA – Part 1
A headline like “Jail Fails to Comply with PREA”1 is not uncommon to read in the daily news. Unfortunately,some information being put out by various organizations is misrepresented on PREA and has caused confusion among our jails. Perhaps worse,they have negatively altered public perception of the Sheriff’s office and jails (After all,if you aren’t DOJ PREA compliant,you must not care about protecting the inmates from rape,right?)
Be Careful Not to Build Your Own Trojan Horse
What is intellectual property? How should you protect it and why? These are questions to have us think about the importance of protecting what is most important to us as law enforcement,detention agencies,and our associations,particularly what is developed to assist those we serve internally. Plagiarism may be the most sincere form of flattery,but in many cases it’s also illegal and sometimes creates a liability for the user.
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