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They don't mean fuck-all if (1) they don't include major financial and/or criminal penalties and (2) the state doesn't provide sufficient numbers of properly trained inspectors to do the job and vigorously prosecute offences.
It was the dirty not-so-little secret I learned about Pennsylvania state government when I worked for the state legislature for 10 years. Part of my job as a legislative staff attorney (for the Democratic caucus) was to painstakingly review regulations governing various state agencies. In addition to the outright loopholes and gaps, there were also the mealy-mouthed regulations which provided ZIP financial or criminal penalties or meaningful enforcement requirements.
For example, the Department of Public Welfare was charged with licensing and regulating privately funded group homes for the mentally retarded and mentally ill. The ONLY time the staff of one of these "homes" had to provide information to family members was if the resident DIED.
If said resident ran away, wandered away, was arrested/tried/convicted and/or imprisoned, was missing, was beaten or raped by anyone (another resident, a staff member, somebody wandering in off the street), was injured and/or hospitalized for illness or injury, was pimped out by staff for sexual services, became impregnated, was photographed for porn purposes, etc. the family was not told. The state purposely assigned residents to the other end of the state (which is over 300 miles wide) from where their family lived to discourage visits or observations by family members.
The regulations were SO cleverly written. Bill ("it depends on what the meaning of is "is"
would have been so impressed. For example, annual inspections? Oh, yes, "Pennsylvania has annual inspections." BIG .. . . .FUCKING . . . .DEAL!!!! The state was required to inspect 30% of the facilities per year, BUT it could inspect the same facilities year after year, such that many were NEVER inspected. PLUS, the operators were given ample advance notice of when inspections would occur. Isn't that just super? The operators could make sure everything was clean and sanitary, and temporarily assign the required number of workers.
Worst case scenario, a group home operator caused serious bodily injury to 5 residents, when one of the employees failed to lock up the cleaning supplies cabinet, and the 5 mentally retarded men drank the bright blue cleaning fluid, and had to be air-lifted out to hospital. Well, the patients may have suffered permanent injury to their digestive systems, but since none of them actually DIED, the families weren't told so there were no civil law suits. And of course the state attorney general did not pursue actions for criminal negligence against either the individual employee or the corporate owner of said group home. Of course, under state regulations, the group home operator's rating was reduced from A to B. Big fucking whoop! There was not one dollar in fines; that particular residence remained open and operating at full capacity.
I dutifully reported my findings to a bipartisan oversight committee. Nothing was done to strengthen the regulations - because, you see, there were no lobbyists on behalf of the mentally ill or mentally retarded. Senator Bob Casey was State Auditor then, and he did a performance audit of the situation, which backed up my report, but again, neither the governor (Tom Ridge) nor the legislature took any action.
