When inspectors from the U.S. Justice Department question employees at the Erie County

Holding Center later this month, representatives of the county attorney's office will be

allowed to accompany them.

The county attorney sees that as very good news, but it upset a jail critic who voiced

concerns Sunday that Holding Center employees will be less likely to tell the truth with

county attorneys watching.

In a ruling issued Saturday, U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny said federal inspectors

will be allowed to examine the jail and its suicide-prevention procedures. But the judge also

ruled that "County lawyers and representatives" can join them when they interview jail

employees.

Skretny's ruling came three days after the downtown jail reported the third suicide in the

facility within four months. The ruling was the latest development in a dispute over jail

conditions that has been brewing for years between the county and the Justice Department.

"We've always said that we'd give them access [to the jail] as long as a county attorney is

present," County Attorney Cheryl A. Green told The Buffalo News on Sunday. "That is extremely

important from the county's perspective."

"I don't see this as a good thing," said Karima Amin, co-chairwoman of the Erie County

Prisoners Rights Coalition. "With the county attorney standing by, I think employees will be

intimidated. They'll say anything the county attorney wants them to. ... Retaliation is real."

Skretny's 11-page ruling does not address the issue of whether county attorneys can be

present while prisoners are being interviewed. That issue will have to be clarified before the

Justice Department inspectors visit the jail March 22-23, according to U.S. Attorney Kathleen

M. Mehltretter.

Mehltretter said she is pleased by the ruling, which indicated that Skretny is concerned

about recent suicides at the jail. The judge directed the county to expedite the process of

turning over suicide-prevention information to the federal government.

Skretny also said he intends to rule against the county's motion to dismiss the federal

government's lawsuit against the county.

"We're very pleased that we can move forward," Mehltretter said.

When asked about the fact that county attorneys will be present while jail employees are

interviewed, Mehltretter said, "We'll just have to deal with that."

She said that in her view, county attorneys should not be present if a prisoner willingly

submits to an interview with Justice Department inspectors.

"If the inmate wants to be interviewed separately by the county attorney, we would have no

problem with that," Mehltretter said.

In a civil rights lawsuit filed last year, federal attorneys asked Skretny to order that

the county make numerous improvements at the jail. The Justice Department contends that the

jail has inadequate suicide-prevention procedures and inadequate health and mental health

care, and that some prisoners have been treated abusively there.

County officials disagree, saying the jail follows standards set by the State Commission of

Correction. "The practices and procedures that the county adheres to are set by the State

Commission of Correction," Green said Sunday. "The state should have to answer for this, not

the County of Erie and its taxpayers."

Although the county denies allegations that its prisoner suicide rate is unusually high for

a jail, Skretny made clear in his ruling that he is concerned about it.

"[Between] 2003 and 2009, at least 23 inmates either committed, or attempted to commit,

suicide," Skretny wrote, citing statistics quoted by the Justice Department. "In just one year

[2007-08], there were three suicides and at least 10 attempted suicides. These incidents

involved inmates hanging themselves with bedsheets from air vents, ingesting other inmates'

medications, and jumping from a 15-foot railing in a common area.

"According to the Justice Department's expert witness, Lindsay M. Hayes, [the jail's]

suicide rate is nearly five times the national average as determined by the U.S. Bureau of

Justice Statistics."

Skretny noted that while county officials disagree with statistics cited by Hayes, "they

have not submitted any contrary expert testimony."

"Due to the Justice Department's demonstration of good cause and the recurring incidents of

suicide and attempted suicide," Skretny said, the feds' request for the county to move more

quickly on providing suicide-prevention information "is both warranted and necessary."

The county must respond to the Justice Department's request for documents about suicide

prevention procedures and suicides at the jail within 14 days, Skretny stated in a rare

Saturday ruling.

Amin, a retired Buffalo teacher who said she has spoken with many people who have spent

time in the Holding Center, said she agrees with most of Skretny's ruling.

She said that she strongly disagrees with the judge for allowing county attorneys to sit in

on interviews with employees and that she wishes the judge had issued his ruling weeks

earlier.

"People are dying in that Holding Center," Amin said. "With county attorneys looking over

their shoulders, I think the employees are going to say what the boss wants to hear."

Amin said she also disagrees with the perception held by some people in the community that

prisoners in the Holding Center are longtime lawbreakers who deserve whatever treatment they

receive there.

Many of the people in the jail are young, first-time offenders or others who have never

been convicted of a crime, Amin said.

"Any one of our sons or daughters could wind up in that predicament after a first offense,"

she said. "I've seen it many times. I've seen many people whose entire attitude about the jail

changes in a heartbeat when one of their own children is locked up."

Green said she strongly disagrees with Amin's point that jail employees will be intimidated

by having county lawyers listen in on their interviews.

"I feel they will feel more comfortable with a county attorney present," Green said. "The

county attorney represents all county employees."