BACA SUGGESTS EX-JUSTICE AS COUNTY JAILS WATCHDOG.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. New Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Sheriff Lee Baca Leroy David Baca (b. May 27 1942, East Los Angeles, California) is the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California. After graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School (Los Angeles) in 1960, Baca worked his way through East Los Angeles College before starting with the L.A. said he wants former California Supreme Court Justice Armand Arabian to become an inspector general for the county's overcrowded o·ver·crowd v. o·ver·crowd·ed, o·ver·crowd·ing, o·ver·crowds v.tr. To cause to be excessively crowded: a system of consolidation that only overcrowded the classrooms. jail system, which has been plagued by allegations of fatal inmate beatings, mistreatment mis·treat tr.v. mis·treat·ed, mis·treat·ing, mis·treats To treat roughly or wrongly. See Synonyms at abuse. mis·treat of mentally ill prisoners and overdetention. Though Baca said he has not formally approached Arabian about the job, the sheriff said he is confident in the former justice's abilities to oversee the county's troubled jails. ``His credentials are impeccable,'' Baca said Friday. ``When you have a Supreme Court justice who is interested, there are very few people who can compete with that.'' Arabian said he would be interested in serving as inspector general but would like more information before accepting the position. ``I have been a public servant for a lot of years. I know they need help,'' he said. ``They need someone to take a look at what's happening.'' But civil rights advocates questioned whether Arabian would pay enough attention to inmate rights. ``I just never really thought of him as a strong advocate of civil rights or constitutional rights,'' said Gerald F. Uelmen, a law professor at the University of Santa Clara and a top scholar about California's high court. Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. of Southern California, said the Board of Supervisors should be selecting the candidate, not Baca. ``You can't have the inspector general being beholden be·hold·en adj. Owing something, such as gratitude, to another; indebted. [Middle English biholden, past participle of biholden, to observe; see behold. to the sheriff for appointment,'' she said. Arabian, who served on the state Supreme Court from 1990 to February 1996, was a close confidant of Republican Gov. George Deukmejian and works as a defense attorney and free-lance judge. Baca, who was sworn in as sheriff Monday, has met with county supervisors to gauge what type of support there would be if he were to hire Arabian on a part-time basis for an undetermined time. ``The public has lost confidence in the managing of the jails,'' Baca said. ``There is a need for our county jail system to have a person who will look at everything and speak candidly about the issues and the problems.'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion