By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The county has settled a lawsuit with a magazine publisher who claimed the Lewis County Jail violated his rights under the First Amendment by refusing to accept its free publication for inmates.
Crime, Justice and America claimed the jail’s blanket ban on unsolicited publications was exaggerated.
Jail Chief Kevin Hanson said after the suit was filed in federal court at the end of March, he would accept the magazine, but only in limited quantities and if addressed to specific named inmates.
Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor David Fine notified the county board of commissioner’s today that Lewis and a dozen other Washington counties signed the settlement on Friday.
Lewis County will pay the California publisher $10,000, Fine said.
It just means the case is over, Fine said, and the county’s insurer has sent them $10,000.
“They’ve never sent us a magazine, but if they wish to, and it’s addressed to an inmate, it’ll be handed over to the inmate,” Fine said.
There won’t be any policy changes because the jail is in compliance with the law, according to Fine.
Crime, Justice and America’s publisher Ray Hrdlicka, was claiming monetary damages from lost advertising and wanted a judge’s order for the jail to stop violating its rights.
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For background, read “Jail sued over magazine offer for inmates” from Thursday March 29, 2012, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
The idea is that when they get pressed, they have a whole arsenal of dirty tricks they use to deceive, inveigle, and obfuscate the issue by using diversion tactics, deflections, and personal attacks on the character of others.
It’s as though, with the help of the city attorney, the local outlaws dressed as prison guards, absconded with the county’s dollar by way of mysterious out-of-state ‘publisher’ of something that targets inmates as a demographic.
The real question we should be asking ourselves is this:
Was the publisher of the jailhouse magazines a friend of the Lewis County employees??? Was there an agreement for the complaint to surface so that the Lewis County Clerk would be forced to write a check to the publisher???
If the people in the jail know the publisher outside of their work environment, then it is a clear case of embezzlement.
It’s an old trick used by criminals who work in government offices. They hire some schmuck to file a complaint. The person who handles such matters, in the case the Sherriff, refuses to uphold the law, knowing full well that the “publisher” who coincidentally lives out of state (Federal Jurisdiction) will press the issue and will potentially win, if the case went to trial.
But it never goes to trial. The publisher and Lewis County know this all too well. The publisher will get the check, it will appear a legit legal case was dealt with, and everyone in on the scam will get about a thousand dollars depending on how many were involved.
This is no less than what the mafia calls a ‘snowball’.
You see, it’s not a crime to lie to public for the record. It is a crime to lie under oath. So, as long as they aren’t being held to any legal standard of truth-telling, they will say whatever they think they should say to absolve themselves of any public scrutiny.
They could defend themselves by insisting the ‘facts’ as they presented are true, but they would have to lie under oath because the ‘facts’ as they present them, are just lies.
They could take the case to trial. But, they would have to make a statement that they ‘never received any publications” from the California publisher.
However, their testimony would not stand up in court, and since it’s a crime to lie under oath, they would be taking a chance of ending up in jail themselves.
I hope this answers your questions.
If the jail is in compliance with the Law then why in the world would they be paying $10,000?? That doesn’t make any sense! Apparently I’m missing something here I’d appreciate it if someone can explain to me why if their in the right and abiding by the law are they dishing out all that money?