Inbox

[February 20th, 2008]

Don’t Dawg the Deputies

In last week’s “Winners” column, you reached a new low by concluding that Sheriff Bernie Giusto’s retirement will equate to less inmate sex and longer life expectancies for “petty” criminals being detained in our Justice System. While I agree that there are facts suggesting that Sheriff Giusto’s oversight of the Multnomah County jail system has been lacking, the trite conclusion that you have reached is simply a false and misleading insult to the vast majority of men and women who serve this county as deputy sheriffs.

The workload placed on the sheriff’s staff is daunting, and the environment in which they work is beyond the type of stress that most of us have to deal with. There is nothing “petty” about the population that they are currently charged with keeping safe and healthy. With our failure to maintain an adequate mental-health system and our failure to maintain adequate treatment beds, we as a community share the inexcusable blame of dumping in the laps of these deputies a huge population of untreated psychotic and addicted criminal personalities. Despite this, it is my experience that the deputies’ interaction with this population is one of respect, professionalism, and yes, even at times compassion. I know that we can point to notable and unfortunate exceptions, but in my 20 years of working in the criminal justice system, I believe that these events are just that: notable exceptions.

It is healthy for a newspaper and a community to be wary of and vigilant of those people who we place in positions of authority. Suggesting, however, that our jails are an orgy of inmate sex and brutality, however, is simply not born out by any factual reference. I have toured the jail every year for almost a decade and as a public defender I visited the jail almost daily. It is my experience that the jail has become the final safety net for the homeless, mentally ill and severely addicted. Instead of bashing on jail staff for the sins of their supervisors, perhaps it is time to show them some gratititude by opening a dialogue on how we can provide them the necessary resources to care for this population.

Michael McShane
Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge

CORRECTION

Last week’s cover story, “Beaten to the Pulp,” incorrectly reported that Metro implemented the policy of commingling recyclable materials in 1999 and is responsible for replacing 14-gallon recycling tubs with 65-gallon carts. While Metro’s role is to provide program and policy direction and to increase recycling regionwide, cities and counties are responsible for designing and administering recycling and collection programs for their jurisdictions. WW regrets the error.