On 2003-11-04 19:39:00, Deborah wrote:
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Ginger,
I viewed the news clip on SAFE at the link you provided above.
When did that air? Old or current?
November or December of 2000. Note the introductory commet about breaking away from the election coverage? That was about the diputed Büsh/Clinton presidential election.
What is happening or happened with the lawsuit?
It petered out. Essentially, Thom Burton took these people's money then quit answering calls. The final complaint filed by another atty was an absolute joke. The judge did everything but rewrite it for them to make it properly acceptable legaleze, but the atty slacked.
Did the governor conduct an investigation?
What's the latest?
The Governor, his lovely wife Camilla and his own state drug czar, Jim McDonough are all on the advisory board of Drug Free America Foundation. DFAF is Straight, inc. after two name changes. Straight, Inc. and DFAF founder, Betty Sembler, was on Brother JEB!'s finance committee for his campaign(s) and her husband, Melvin, is current ambassador to Italy, former ambassador to Australia under Büsh I and finance chairman for the RNC for all three Büsh presidential elections.
In short, no, the governors' office did not investigate and they never will because they and their associates (Eckerd and Huizenga, for example) would very quickly become a part of that investigation. Hell, a lawsuit filed and won by SAFE and Loretta Parish soon after the name change restricts even HRS (now called FDCYF) from normal facility inspections and investigations.
You think Jamaica's corrupt? Heh. At least they're pretty straightforward about it.
Loretta and Vivian made my skin crawl. Just creepy. I don't believe in Evil, but am tempted to use the word to describe those two.
Congratulations! This wins you the ultra-exclusive designation of fellow lying, cowardly cochroach! Welcome! Welcome! :wave:
So, do I understand correctly, there was Straight, then Seed, then SAFE. All basically the same program with different names?
Close. First there was The Seed in 1970 in Ft. Lauderdale. We don't know much about where Art Barker came from outside of his annectdotes about his life on Vaudiville and subsiquent career as an alcoholic. But NIDA gave him over a million bucks to fund The Seed.
Not long after The Seed lost expansion funding and shut down all but the headquarters in Ft. Lauderdale, former Seed parents and staff established Straight, Inc. in St. Pete.
Straight had locatations all over the east and a couple in the SW when Straight, Orlando came under fire. They just changed their name. Pretty ballsey, when you think of it. Till then, they'd at least had to go to the trouble of changing locations and BOD rosters. Not this time. They only changed the letterhead and slightly shuffled the BOD roster.
One of the dudes (an attorney?) in the clip said that strip searches were illegal. Is that true in all states? Strip searches were conducted at the high dollar facility I have experience with, after visits off campus. Here's the funny thing. It was reported by a couple of ex-inmates that drugs, tobacco, and dip were available to those with the right connections, ON campus- no reason to risk being caught bringing them in.
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Strip searches are strictly regulated by way of the definition between law enforcement/corrections or medical necessity vs that of sexual assault. If a law enforcement officer wants you strip searched, he has to get permission, provide more than one witness and the search must be done by people of the same gender as the prisoner. And that's AFTER the person has been determined by law (under threat of civil suit and/or personal criminal charges) to be fair game for a legal arrest.
With these places, a tearful mother, neurotic though she may be, with financial resources is all the evidence needed.