Posts Tagged: investigations

Secrecy looms over sexual misconduct claims

Lobbyist Pamela Lopez testifies before an Assembly committee about sexual harassment in the Capitol. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP

by SOPHIA BOLLAG posted 12.19.2017

Leaders in the California Senate and Assembly have promised transparency as they combat sexual harassment in the Capitol, but so far most information from misconduct investigations remains hidden from public view. The Senate announced a contract with lawyers from two independent firms to investigate sexual harassment complaints, but attorney-client privilege could shield the investigations from public disclosure.

Feds raised repeated concerns about O.C. jail security

Officials at the Orange County Central Men's Jail investigate the area where three inmates escaped.(Photo: Associated Press/ Nick Ut.)

by ALYSIA SANTO posted 02.03.2016

Federal officials warned for years of “poor supervision” at a Southern California jail where three inmates — all charged with violent felonies — recently escaped, documents obtained by The Marshall Project show. The men’s elaborate route to freedom seemed made for the movies: They cut through layers of metal and navigated plumbing tunnels to reach the roof. They then rappelled down four stories with makeshift ropes, perhaps strung together from bedsheets or jail clothing.

ProPublica reviewed more than 450 complaint investigations undertaken by the agency between 2009 and 2014 from roughly 50 Level 14 group homes, the residential facilities for California’s most acutely disturbed children. More than half the investigations produced “inconclusive” findings, meaning that no determination of facts was reached in cases that involved sexual abuse, physical assaults, drug use or inadequate care at the facilities.