~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

by Lee Romney and John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times

December 4, 2011

Reporting from San Francisco and Los Angeles

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a judge to extend federal oversight of two state mental hospitals, saying the facilities have failed to comply with critical provisions of a sweeping consent judgment imposed 5 1/2 years ago.

In a filing late Friday night, federal officials detailed key failings at Napa State Hospital and Norwalk's Metropolitan State Hospital: preventable suicides, nursing errors leading to unnecessary suffering, improper use of some restraints and a failure to adequately analyze and prevent violence.

"People confined in these two hospitals have died or suffered serious harm, and will remain at an unreasonable risk of serious harm, including death, absent further orders from this Court," federal attorneys wrote, adding that "both those residing and those working" at the facilities "are seriously assaulted on a continuing basis."

The scathing federal assessment of conditions at the hospitals comes as a blow to the California Department of Mental Health, which had expected to be free from federal oversight by year's end.

The Justice Department's entreaty to Chief U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins came on the day that the consent judgment expired. The judgment was imposed in 2006 to settle a lawsuit alleging unsafe conditions and poor treatment at four state mental hospitals. It required extensive reforms that have cost the state tens of millions of dollars.

The court filing asks Collins to extend oversight of the two hospitals in the deficient areas until they comply. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 23.

Last month, federal officials released San Bernardino's Patton State Hospital and the Central Coast's Atascadero State Hospital from oversight, deeming them in compliance with the "bulk" of the consent judgment's demands. The fifth state hospital, Coalinga, was not covered by the agreement because it had just opened, but it has similar reforms in place.

Cliff Allenby, acting director of the Department of Mental Health, said in a statement Saturday that all the hospitals have made "significant enhancements in mental health treatment" under the terms of the consent judgment and that the state "remains committed" to achieving full and continuous compliance at Napa and Metropolitan.

The federal probe of California's psychiatric hospitals began nine years ago at Metropolitan, and the state has invested the most in fixing that facility. But neither Metropolitan nor Napa — where a psychiatric technician was strangled by a patient a year ago — has imposed adequate reforms to keep patients safe, according to federal attorneys and Virginia psychiatrist Mohamed El-Sabaawi, who as the court monitor has visited each hospital twice yearly to assess compliance.

The reforms laid out years ago focus on preventing suicide and violence, improving treatment planning and curtailing overmedication and use of restraints. Yet Friday's filing noted that the original federal findings against the two hospitals "detailed very similar inadequacies to those that still exist."

Among the problems cited were arguably preventable suicides at Napa, one by a man whose psychiatrist was on vacation with no substitute and another by a man who had already attempted suicide by similar means and had not been reassessed.

The filing detailed Napa's use of prohibited face-down, or prone, restraints, which were placed on one patient who later died of cardiac arrest and another who suffered broken bones. At Metropolitan, the federal document said administrators failed to heed El-Sabaawi's warnings about a poorly performing physician whose actions allegedly contributed to the death of one patient and disability of another.

The filing also said both hospitals suffer from "consistent failure to perform required nursing reassessments." Metro nurses described a patient who had just had a seizure as "resting comfortably with no complaints of distress," while he was in fact unconscious because of a dangerously low sodium level, it said. And at Napa, nurses failed to notice that a patient had suffered a fracture even though he was screaming and his leg was abnormally rotated.

Violence was also key among Justice Department complaints, namely the hospitals' failure to identify aggressive patients and prevent them from reoffending. Referring to the October 2010 strangulation of Napa's Donna Gross, federal attorneys said that the hospital began developing a "performance enhancement system to protect people from preventable harm" only after the slaying, despite earlier warnings from El-Sabaawi.

Gross was killed on the grounds, where the alarms that staff carry do not work. In a declaration, El-Sabaawi wrote that Napa and Metropolitan have acknowledged the need for campus-wide alarm systems and Napa had promised to create a high-security unit with enhanced staffing to house the most violent patients. "Defendants, however, have not implemented those measures," he wrote.

Continued federal involvement would come as a relief to some hospital clinicians. In a letter to Collins last month, Napa's medical staff asked the judge "in the strongest possible terms" to extend oversight of that hospital. The staff contended that the state has consistently failed to provide a safe environment and, because of budget cuts, plans to reduce staffing levels below the ratio accepted as the standard of care and required by the Justice Department.

The letter, signed by Dr. Shakeel Khan, the hospital's chief of staff, on behalf of 177 physicians, psychologists and dentists, also said the state had backed away from its plan for the high-security unit and was not planning to install an improved alarm system until April.

Assemblyman Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia), who sits on a state select committee to improve hospital conditions, said Saturday: "While we are disappointed that Metropolitan State Hospital hasn't met the safety standards set by the federal government, if this court oversight ensures that patients and staff are safe, then we welcome the request."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mental-hospitals-20111204,0,4495718,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(CNN) -- Ohio authorities on Saturday advanced their investigation into killings tied to a Craigslist job listing when they identified the last of three bodies found last month, a sheriff said.

The body of Ralph H. Geiger, 56, of Akron, Ohio, was identified by the Licking County coroner's office, said Sheriff Stephen S. Hannum of Noble County. His corpse had been discovered by investigators November 25 in a shallow grave in eastern Ohio.

He and two other men found dead -- also in different shallow graves -- are believed to have been killed after answering a Craigslist ad to work on a cattle farm in eastern Ohio, authorities said.

Brogan Rafferty, 16, of Stow, Ohio, who is a high school sophomore, is facing charges of aggravated murder and attempted murder in the killings, and prosecutors are seeking to try him as an adult, according to CNN affiliates WKYC and WJW.

In court documents filed by prosecutors, Richard Beasley, 52, of Akron, Ohio, is also alleged to have been involved in the killings. But he hasn't been charged yet specifically in relation to the case.

Beasley did plead not guilty this week to promoting prostitution charges -- an unrelated case -- and he was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, WKYC reported.

Rafferty's father, Michael, told WJW a week ago that his 16-year-old son had been "manipulated" and "corrupted," insisting that his son is a "mild-mannered gentleman."

The father also said that his son unwittingly dug the graves at Beasley's direction, WJW reported. The boy's mother said her son denied killing anyone and added that Beasley portrayed himself as "a chaplain" who gave food to the homeless.

Last week, another victim was identified as Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon, Ohio, who died from gunshot wounds to the head and whose body was found in a shallow grave behind an Akron mall, authorities said.

The other murder victim has been identified as David Pauley, Noble County Sheriff's office dispatcher Kevin Macri told CNN on Saturday. The South Carolina man's body was also found last month in a shallow grave with a gunshot wound to the head, according to WKYC.

The investigation into the killings began the night of November 6, when a Noble County deputy sheriff responded to a call and came upon a "white, middle-aged man being treated for a gunshot wound to the right arm," according to Hannum.

The wounded man, who is from South Carolina and was not identified by police, told the sheriff he had answered an ad on the Craigslist website offering work caring for cattle on a 688-acre property.

He met with the two suspects and drove with them toward Stock Township. After being told a road was closed due to a landslide, the South Carolina man got out of the car to start walking toward the property, which he was told was nearby.

He told the sheriff that, while walking through a heavily wooded area, he then turned around "to see a gun pointed at his head. He deflected the gun and ran" -- getting shot in the arm while fleeing, the sheriff explained last month. The victim hid for seven hours in the forest before going to a house and requesting help, Hannum said last week.

Zach Kern, 19, told CNN last week that he last saw his father, Timothy, on November 12 after he had gone with another son for the job interview.

"He was all stoked about it," Zach Kern said of his father's feelings about the opportunity to work on the cattle farm. "My brother ... thought the whole situation was sketchy."

Zach Kern said his father, divorced and with three children, worked "odd jobs" including recently as a street cleaner in Canton. He said that his father saw his children daily, adding that the whole family is struggling to come to grips with his death.

"We're just trying to get through this," Zach Kern said.

In his last Facebook posting, dated November 10, Timothy Kern wrote: "Just got one of the strangest job offers. A good offer but strange. The job is to watch over 680 acres south of cambridge. Odd jobs and such but mainly just secure it. Trailer, utilities, salary. Drawbacks? No cell phone service, kids are up here, and i have to move this Sunday."

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/03/us/ohio-craigslist-killings/index.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An 85-year-old grandmother says TSA agents at JFK Airport in New York humiliated her by strip searching her Tuesday and she plans to sue, The New York Daily News reports.

Lenore Zimmerman from Long Beach, N.Y., says she was pulled into a private screening room by security who then proceeded to take off her clothes.

“I walk with a walker — I really look like a terrorist,” Zimmerman said sarcastically. “I'm tiny. I weigh 110 pounds, 107 without clothes, and I was strip-searched,” The Daily News reports.

Her son Bruce Zimmerman, 53, dropped her off at the Jet Blue terminal for her 1 p.m. flight to Fort Lauderdale, where she lives during the winter. He waited with her until her bags were checked and she was given a wheelchair then left when his mom reached the security checkpoint.

The grandmother asked TSA if she could forgo the advanced image technology screening equipment, fearing it might interfere with her defibrillator. She thought that she would just get a normal pat down.

But instead, she says that two female agents strip searched her.

“I was outraged,” said Zimmerman, a retired receptionist.

In the midst of the ordeal, she tried to lift a walker off her lap and the metal bars banged against her leg leaving a bloody gash.

“My sock was soaked with blood,” she said. “I was bleeding like a pig,” The Daily News reports.

The TSA agents reportedly did not stop the search process even as Zimmerman asked, “Why are you doing this?”

The TSA claims the footage does not show any sign of the injury.

The process took so long that she missed her 1 p.m. flight and had to catch a later one.

"A review of CCTV indicates that private screening was requested by the passenger, was granted and lasted approximately 11 minutes," a TSA spokesman told FoxNews.com in a statement.

"TSA screening procedures are conducted in a manner designed to treat all passengers with dignity, respect and courtesy and that occurred in this instance. While we regret that the passenger feels she had an unpleasant screening experience, TSA does not include strip searches as part of our security protocols and one was not conducted in this case," he said.

Zimmerman's son said he can't understand why the agents targeted his mom.

“She looks like a sweet, little old lady,” he said. “She's not a disruptive person or uncooperative.”

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/03/85-year-old-grandmother-to-sue-tsa-after-strip-search-at-jfk-airport/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WASHINGTON – Following a comprehensive investigation, the Justice Department today announced its findings that the state of Florida's oversight system failed to detect and sufficiently address harmful practices at both the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys and the Jackson Juvenile Offender Center (JJOC), which together constituted the North Florida Youth Development Center (NYFDC). Despite the closure of these facilities, the deficiencies found by the United States implicate the continuing oversight obligations of the state. The state's lack of adequate controls permitted these violations to persist. It is incumbent upon the state to ensure that the unconstitutional conditions of confinement identified in the report do not exist at its other juvenile justice institutions.

The United States announced its investigation of the NYFDC facilities on April 7, 2010, in accordance with the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. On May 26, 2011, Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) announced the pending closure of Dozier and JJOC. The facilities were officially closed on June 30, 2011, and the residents were transferred to juvenile justice institutions throughout the state. The Justice Department found reasonable cause to believe that a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conduct and/or violations of federal law occurred in several areas, including:

• Failure to adequately protect youth from harm;
• Unconstitutional uses of disciplinary confinement;
• Deliberate indifference to youth at risk of self-injurious and suicidal behaviors;
• Violations of youth's due process rights; and
• Failure to provide necessary rehabilitation services.

These violations were the result of the state's failed system of oversight and accountability. To protect the youth in its remaining facilities, the state must take immediate measures to assess the full extent of its failed oversight with the assistance of experts in juvenile protection from harm issues. The state must also strengthen its oversight processes by implementing a more rigorous system of hiring, training and accountability.

The United States thanks and acknowledges the state for its cooperation throughout this investigation.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 authorizes the Department of Justice to seek a remedy for a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the constitutional or federal statutory rights of youth in juvenile justice institutions.

The full report can be found at www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/documents/dozier_findltr_12-1-11.pdf. For more information on the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/December/11-crt-1572.html

.