State asks federal prosecutors to probe 2002 Folsom Prison riot

By: DON THOMPSON - Associated Press | Friday, February 6, 2004 9:19 PM PST ∞

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked a federal prosecutor to probe the 2002 Folsom State Prison riot Friday, two weeks after witnesses told state Senate committees that prison officials helped trigger the 90-second gang fight and then covered up their mishandling of the riot and its aftermath.

McGregor Scott, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California that includes Sacramento and neighboring Folsom, said in a statement he will consult with other agencies before deciding whether to conduct an investigation. A spokeswoman said there is no timetable for a decision.

Excluding California's massive budget deficit, the state's adult and juvenile prison system has flared as Schwarzenegger's largest and most unexpected policy crisis since he took office in November. Within the last month the system has been criticized by a federal overseer, national experts, state Senate witnesses, all amid reports of rampant overspending.

The administration also said Friday it has ended the California Youth Authority's practice of using wire cages to contain misbehaving youths after criticism from national experts and state senators last week. Schwarzenegger, among others, found the cages "offensive," said Legal Affairs Secretary Peter Siggins.

Schwarzenegger also reversed his plan to sharply cut funding and staff for the independent Office of the Inspector General. Senators had criticized his proposal to merge the office into the same Youth and Adult Correctional Agency the inspector general is charged with overseeing.

The administration said Schwarzenegger's call for a federal probe of the Folsom riot is "unprecedented" in California.

"I don't remember a governor ever asking the federal government to come in and review a prison. In fact I've often fought them when they've tried," Siggins said. He spent 14 years as top deputy to state Attorney General Bill Lockyer and heading the attorney general's correctional law section before joining Schwarzenegger's new administration.

Acting Department of Corrections Director Rick Rimmer told senators two weeks ago that he was temporarily reassigning the entire Folsom administration during an independent investigation of the April 2002 riot, a probe he said could involve state or federal prosecutors.

The U.S. attorney has powers such as federal civil rights laws that aren't available to state or county prosecutors, and doesn't have the potential conflicts that the state attorney general would while acting as the state's lawyer, Siggins said. Lockyer's office agreed with Schwarzenegger's request.

Folsom's warden was fired last year. Rimmer said the new investigation will probe allegations by Folsom guards that the acting warden on the day of the riot had ties to the Southern Mexicans, or Mexican Mafia, one of the two gangs involved in the brief battle.

Twenty-five inmates were wounded, one correctional officer suffered a permanent disability as he helped break up the fight, and another committed suicide after complaining about his treatment by prison officials in the riot's aftermath.

The gangs, which had been separated for 12 weeks because of a previous incident, were supposed to be released into the prison exercise yard in small groups to prevent another fight. Instead, they were released all at once even after a correctional officer questioned the move, a question that was later deleted from the audio portion of videotapes of the riot.

State Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Daly City, who co-chaired the prison hearings, praised Schwarzenegger for reversing his plans for the inspector general. While the independent Folsom probe is wise, she said the state's watchdog needs to be given enough teeth that a federal review isn't needed.

Siggins said Schwarzenegger is committed to improving what he had previously dismissed as a worthless oversight office that Siggins said focused too much on "bureaucratic reviews of financial practices" instead of employee wrongdoing. That will likely mean more staff and money for an office where Schwarzenegger previously wanted to trim both, Siggins said.

On the Net:

Oversight committees: www.sen.ca.gov/oversight

California Department of Corrections: http://www.corr.ca.gov/

California Correctional Peace Officers Association: http://www.ccpoanet.org/