(When did the ACLU start running the US?)


Feds pull contract to hold detainees at county jail

Use of Tasers is against Immigration and Customs Enforcement standards


Pete Fowler and Dennis Webb
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
September 5, 2007

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Federal officials are no longer using the Garfield County Jail to hold suspected illegal immigrants because the jail uses Tasers.

"All I can tell you is that we have very specific detention standards," said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok. "ICE cannot contract with facilities that use Tasers due to the detention standards that we follow."

Rusnok confirmed that ICE no longer has a contract with the jail but wouldn't provide further details.

Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario told county commissioners Tuesday that ICE pulled the contract for the jail to hold its detainees but that he never received a letter from ICE.

"I'm very disappointed in the organization," he said. "I'm trying to help them."

He said the jail was recently rated in 34 areas by ICE officials in Grand Junction and was found to be acceptable in all of them. He said ICE officials in Washington then gave the jail an unacceptable rating based on its use of Tasers and a pending ACLU lawsuit that includes allegations of excessive use of force at the jail involving Tasers.

Vallario said ICE stopped using the jail about a month ago.

He added that he's always supported ICE agents on the street, but he thinks ICE's decision defeats the purpose of ICE operating a Glenwood office when it can't use the local jail because of policy coming from Washington.

Vallario said he resents that ICE appears to be taking steps to tell him how to operate his jail. For example, when the jail faces overflow situations and has inmates sleep on mattresses on the floor, ICE requires that its detainees be allowed to sleep in bunks.

"It's OK for American citizens to sleep on the floor, it's not OK for detainees to sleep on the floor," he said.

Mark Silverstein, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, said he received a copy of an e-mail from Vallario to ICE regarding ICE's request for the jail to agree not to use Tasers.

In a copy of the May 24 e-mail, Vallario wrote that the jail provided ICE over 5,500 bed days in 2006. He wrote that the jail's medical provider increased its contract price $100,000 to meet the needs of the ICE contract that now no longer exists.

"If ICE decides to cancel the contract because of this new issue regarding Tasers, I will be left 'holding the bag' for $100,000 on your behalf," Vallario wrote.

Vallario said holding detainees brought in about $300,000 in revenue for the jail last year, but perhaps only $40,000 after expenses. He said holding the detainees does create a burden on jail staff and medical personnel.

In the e-mail, Vallario added that he is concerned with how ICE will handle illegal immigrants if the jail is no longer used. He wrote that he spoke with other Colorado sheriffs and many of them have indicated they won't comply with the new policy either. He adds that he has political concerns for everyone involved.

"The issue of illegal aliens is in the forefront of the concerns of our citizens," Vallario wrote. "I sincerely hope that we can come to an understanding regarding this matter so that we can continue to assist you with your mission."

In the e-mail, Vallario says Tasers have been used in the jail only three times and that they're used to protect officers. Silverstein said incident reports obtained through the ACLU's lawsuit against the jail show that Tasers have been used at least six times since 2005.

Silverstein also said incident reports document that inmates are being shot with Tasers for inappropriate reasons. In one report, he said, a deputy was ordered by a supervisor to "Tase him if he doesn't comply."

Silverstein said the ACLU's class-action lawsuit against the jail, Vallario and Jail Commander Scott Dawson is still in the deposition phase.

http://www.postindependent.com/article/ ... /109050054