When the failure of a government agency results in something as disturbing and life-threatening as the unintended early release of more than 3,200 state prisoners by the Department of Corrections over more than a decade, the investigations into that failure have to provide both accountability and remedy.
Accountability identifies those who were responsible for poor decisions, actions and inaction; remedy outlines the necessary changes to prevent similar failures in the future.
While there are investigations pending by a state Senate committee and the state Attorney General’s Office, the report by two former federal prosecutors requested by Gov. Jay Inslee was released Thursday. The investigation identifies nothing intentional, malicious or even criminally actionable, but does fault staff and officials at the Department of Corrections and elsewhere for multiple failures caused by a lack of leadership and prioritization of standards, breakdowns in communication and failures to follow policy.
At least two recent deaths have been blamed on the early releases in separate incidents.
The report identifies at least seven people who knew or should have been in a position to know about a software error going back to 2002 that incorrectly credited some prisoners with time off for good behavior they were not eligible for. The department wasn’t made aware of the error until late 2012, when a victim’s family informed the department they believed a prisoner was being released too soon. Work to fix the software problem was delayed for more than three years, and officials, including an assistant attorney general assigned to the department, required no alternative to the software in the interim.
As Herald Columnist Jerry Cornfield wrote earlier this week, “heads will roll,” but there may be few left who haven’t already rolled along. Bernie Warner, the corrections secretary at the time the problem was first identified, left office last fall before the scandal broke. His successor, Dan Pacholke, also has announced his resignation, although the report says neither had been made aware by their staffs. Gone, too, is Assistant Attorney General Ronda Larson, whose “seriously flawed” advice that a hand recalculation of sentences wasn’t necessary, according to the report, played a part in the department’s “lethargic response” to the problem.
As important as identifying those responsible, the report also offers several remedies, three of which stand out:
- An emphasis to all department staff that their core mission is to protect public safety;
- Requiring all attorney general opinions to the department to be reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office; and
- Creating an ombudsman position within the department.
The final recommendation may be the most important. The report found a reluctance on the part of corrections employees to come forward with concerns or complaints about the department.
An ombudsman, someone independent and not answerable to corrections officials, could provide employees with the security necessary to point out problems that then can be brought out into the open, providing accountability and transparency.
The report found that the records manager who first learned of the problem followed procedure and did an “admirable job” in notifying managers. But there was no follow-up by her or others in the three years that followed.
Had the department had an ombudsman, the problem might have received the attention it required and been remedied more quickly. And two innocent lives might have been spared.
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