Reform school students forced to eat vomit

[LauraK]

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) -- Young people at two Mississippi reform schools were hogtied, shackled and forced to eat their own vomit, according to a U.S. Justice Department report.

Three administrators were reassigned following the report, a state official said Tuesday. The administrators at Columbia Training School and Oakley Training School, near Raymond, were expected to remain off their regular jobs indefinitely.

Officials with the Mississippi Department of Human Services also conferred Tuesday with state Attorney General Mike Moore and Justice officials about the report, which said the "staff at Oakley and Columbia use excessive force with impunity."

Young people aged 10-17 are sent to the training schools, overseen by DHS, after facing repeated charges for property crimes or mostly low-level offenses.
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[flamingyouth]

1. And I'm sure they're really being "reformed" by this

How awful. Who's going to jail for this???

[lolly]

2. "Low Level Offense"

translation--using drugs, probably marijuana.

Hog-tying, force feeding vomit--yeah, any 14 year old who smokes marijuana deserves that.

[Rowdyboy]

3. Hmmmm...the Bush "Justice" Department....

won't release names to the Democratic state attorney general so he can prosecute the offenders...Just happens to be a gubenatorial election year in Mississippi by the way...But the Bush "Justice " Department would never resort to cheap political smearing tactics would it? They would never exaggerate or even invent facts! Not John ASScroft. There must be some good reason Bush and ASScroft won't release the names of those accused of this horrendous deviant behavior? Why are they protecting people who abuse children? Any ideas?

[farmboxer]

4. Compare What Bush Has Done

with those kids!

[Maddy McCall]

5. Oh, it gets much worse than what that CNN article discussed...

Here is an article from the state daily today. This was the front page headline:

snip***

Suicidal girls at Columbia said they were stripped naked and were placed in a dark room for as long as three days to a week with only a hole in the floor as a bathroom.

snip****

In addition, the schools violated children's First Amendment rights by forcing them to engage in religious activities, he said.

Boyd said the Justice Department is willing to work with state officials to resolve the problems but says if no amicable solution can be reached, a lawsuit can be filed to protect the youth housed at Oakley and Columbia.

snip****

"However, MDHS' attempts to investigate the allegations outlined in the report have been hampered by DOJ's refusal to release the names of the employees mentioned in their findings, as well as the names of the children who made the allegations," Wofford said in a written statement. "Until MDHS and the attorney general's office can receive the names of those who have been accused of such deplorable acts, DOJ is continuing to place the safety and well-being of the children at both facilities at risk."

Boyd stated in his letter that children who cooperated in the investigation didn't want their names released for fear of retaliation.

The Justice Department's letter comes a year and a half after 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson filed a complaint alleging poor medical conditions at the state's juvenile detention centers. He said then he had received complaints from parents alleging sexual abuse and substandard medical conditions.

snip***

More at: http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0307/15/m02.html

[Rowdyboy]

6. See, this is what I don't get....

if these stories are verifiable, why aren't these people being prosecuted? The children fear "retribution"? Couldn't they be protected? It just doesn't add up to me. It just seems odd that the DOJ won't help Mike Moore prosecute this kind of sickness. If this is real, these people should be behind bars but for some reason the Bushies aren't willing to proceed with prosecution. Could if be that a significant part of these allegations are manufactured?

Sorry, I just cast a very skeptical eye at any action by Ashcroft in Mississippi this year... There is a governor's race and they will tell any lie, exxagerate any point, destroy any life necessary to beat Ronnie Musgrove. I trust nothing coming from this administration.

If this is true, I am horrified. But something doesn't add up...

[Maddy McCall]

7. It doesn't add up to me, either.

Moore is a pretty decent guy...he has gone after internet child predators successfully, i.e. people who arrange meetings with children for instance, so I know his heart would be in prosecuting these dregs of society.

Why Bush's DOJ not want prosecution? The camp directors were forcing religion on the kids...as you mentioned...the Ashcroft connection.

But I agree with you... I think it is larger...I think Moore and Musgrove could come out of the prosecutions as heroes. Thus, hinder prosecution, hinder even more favorable perceptions of Moore, Musgrove.

Barbour recently said that impoverished children in Mississippi would be better off sitting on a whorehouse piano bench than being raised by poor parents. I wonder if BushDOJ will postpone prosecution in hopes that Barbour will be elected, so that a compassionate conservative can "remedy" the situation. I wonder if he will use Musgrove's stagnation on the investigation (his hands are tied until DOJ releases names) to say that if HE (Barbour) were in charge, he would immediately correct it.

I agree with you, at any rate...it is this fed admin's way of manipulating state politics. Shouldn't the states' righters be infurated by this???

Will Bennie Thompson demand DOJ release names since he initiated the investigation? Let's hope so--maybe he can use the Black Caucus to force Ashcroft's hand.