Jailtopia

Sometimes you really gotta hand it to Gusman. He's ready to get out of jail administrator jail and go back to just regular running the jail, which it seems like it what's about to happen. But he also can't help getting in a few parting shots.  This is almost too perfect.

In a combative, 44-page court brief, Gusman tossed his sharpest knives at the monitors deployed by U.S. District Judge Lance Africk, claiming that they’ve held him to an unreasonably high standard.

“Continued enforcement of the Consent Decree seeks a jail utopia, reflective of the court-appointed monitors’ personal preferences and idealistic aspirations, not the ‘narrowly drawn…least intrusive means necessary to correct the violation’ requirement that controls prospective relief for jail conditions,” Gusman said, quoting a federal law that limits lawsuits against jails and prisons.

Rather than creating a perfect prison, Gusman said the standard that should apply is “the constitutional minimum.”

Is he saying he feels like he's been denied due process?  That's just great.  Anyway, kudos to Sledge for going ahead and listing the ways in which Gusman's jail has failed to meet the "utopian" standard.

Gusman doesn’t mention the 11 subsequent inmate deaths, including the haunting suicide of 15-year-old inmate Jaquin Thomas, riots, high staff turnover and sexual harassment allegations or the 87 inmates infected with the novel coronavirus.

The agency's handling of the coronavirus outbreak could become an issue at the hearing on Gusman's request, Schlanger said. The consent decree includes requirements for adequate medical care and sanitation.

In his filing, the sheriff also paints himself as a leader in the push to downsize the jail after Katrina, without mentioning that he fought the New Orleans City Council for a lock-up that would have been smaller than the old jail complex, but would have still held 4,300 beds. Over his objections, the council approved one with 1,438 beds.

What is the constitutionally mandated minimum number of suicides, riots, and deaths allowed of the course of a monitoring agreement, anyway?