Pubdate: Fri, 9 Jan 2009
Source: New York Times (NY)
Page: A11
Copyright: 2009 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Adam Nossiter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)

AS HIS INMATES GREW THINNER, A SHERIFF'S WALLET GREW FATTER

DECATUR, Ala. -- The prisoners in the Morgan County jail here were 
always hungry. The sheriff, meanwhile, was getting a little richer. 
Alabama law allowed it: the chief lawman could go light on prisoners' 
meals and pocket the leftover change.

And that is just what the sheriff, Greg Bartlett, did, to the tune of 
$212,000 over the last three years, despite a state food allowance of 
only $1.75 per prisoner per day.

In the view of a federal judge, who heard testimony from the hungry 
inmates, the sheriff was in "blatant" violation of past agreements 
that his prisoners be properly cared for.

"There was undisputed evidence that most of the inmates had lost 
significant weight," the judge, U. W. Clemon of Federal District 
Court in Birmingham, said Thursday in an interview. "I could not ignore them."

So this week, Judge Clemon ordered Sheriff Bartlett himself jailed 
until he came up with a plan to adequately feed prisoners more, 
anyway, than a few spoonfuls of grits, part of an egg and a piece of 
toast at breakfast, and bits of undercooked, bloody chicken at supper.

The shock in the courtroom on Wednesday was palpable: a sheriff was 
going to jail -- if, as it turns out, only for one night -- because 
his prisoners did not like the food. The world was upside down.

"You're never going to satisfy any incarcerated individual," grumbled 
the head of the Alabama Sheriffs Association, Bobby Timmons. Besides, 
Mr. Timmons said, "an inmate is not in jail for singing too loud in 
choir on Sunday."

Melanie Velez, a lawyer for the Southern Center for Human Rights in 
Atlanta, which represents the inmates, took a different position. 
"Our clients, all they want is sustenance," Ms. Velez said. "They 
shouldn't be punished by not being given adequate nutrition. After 
every meal, they are hungry."

The sheriff's defenders, like Mr. Timmons, said Sheriff Bartlett, who 
told the court his salary was about $64,000, was merely following the 
law -- Alabama law.

"He has not violated any laws of the state of Alabama," Mr. Timmons 
said. "Everything he has done is by the rules, including the feeding 
allowance."

But that was the whole problem, in Judge Clemon's view. An unusual 
statute here dating from the early decades of the 20th century allows 
the state's sheriffs to keep for themselves whatever money is left 
over after they feed their prisoners. The money allotted by the state 
is little enough -- $1.75 a day per prisoner -- but the incentive to 
skimp is obvious.

That is what the sheriff did, Judge Clemon found. As Mr. Bartlett's 
wallet got fatter, according to testimony, the prisoners got thinner 
and thinner. One testified to losing 30 pounds in the brick jail by 
the railroad tracks in this quiet courthouse town of clean and empty 
streets near the Tennessee border.

The judge expressed no regret about sending Mr. Bartlett to jail. The 
Alabama law is "almost an invitation to criminality," he said in the 
interview. Sheriffs, he said, "have a direct pecuniary interest in 
not feeding inmates."

The practice is thought to go on in other counties, though it is 
difficult to be certain, as sheriffs in Alabama are notoriously 
unforthcoming about their finances.

"The sheriff has a responsibility to feed his inmates, but he's also 
got an incentive to line his own pocket," said Ms. Velez, the human 
rights center lawyer. She said, "We were shocked to learn that the 
sheriff had pocketed over $100,000."

The inmates' complaints came to light because the jail, which holds 
about 300, was already under a federal consent decree governing 
conditions there.

"Given the testimony about the fairly blatant violations of the 
consent decree, I knew of no more efficient means of impressing on 
the sheriff the seriousness of the matter than by placing him in jail 
until he indicated a willingness to comply," the judge said.

Sheriff Bartlett was released from jail on Thursday afternoon, after 
he submitted a plan that satisfied the judge. He will now spend all 
the food money solely on food and will "no longer keep any funds for 
his personal use," Judge Clemon said.

After his release, Mr. Bartlett did not appear at his offices and 
could not be reached for comment. His lawyer did not return phone calls.

With precision and some wonder, Judge Clemon, who is retiring 
shortly, recounted a typical inmate lunch here: "Two peanut butter 
sandwiches, with small amounts of peanut butter, chips, and flavored 
water." Hunger pains were not uncommon.

One inmate interviewed from the jail, William Draper, said he had 
lost 15 pounds since his incarceration on marijuana trafficking 
charges in October. "Yeah, you stay hungry," Mr. Draper said. "Hunger 
is something you live with."

Inmates were forced to supplement the meager meals with purchases at 
the high-priced jail store, he said. "We have clients who are 
indigent who are very, very thin," said Ms. Velez. Some spend as much 
as $100 a week at the store, a severe burden for their often 
impoverished families.

"If you can't catch store, you'll starve to death," Mr. Draper said. 
Complaints, he said, were met with cold stares from the guards: "They 
look at you like, 'you've got to deal with it,' " he said.

Mr. Draper said he was glad that someone in authority had finally 
listened to his and others' complaints. "If I'm going to be held 
accountable for breaking the law, other people should be too," he said. 
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