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Pair taken, without a warrant or a fuss

By HOWARD TROXLER
Published May 24, 2005

Early on the morning of Saturday, May 7, officials of the U.S. Virgin Islands showed up at the Hernando County Jail.

They were there to take custody of two Hernando residents: Violet G. Armour, 58, and her daughter, Deborah L. Castillo, 40, both of Spring Hill. The two women were wanted on charges of embezzlement and forgery in a case from St. Thomas.

There was one tiny problem.

The two Florida women were still fighting their extradition in Florida's courts. Their next hearing before a Hernando County judge was still four days away.

Yet the private company under contract to operate the jail - the Corrections Corp. of America - surrendered them to the Virgin Islands deputation anyway, in violation of Florida state law and longstanding legal principle.

This curious incident was reported in the May 16 Hernando Times by our staff reporter Jennifer Liberto. At first, the company told Liberto it was the error of the local court system. But that was not true, and the company had to retract it.

Corrections Corp. itself had notified Virgin Islands authorities to come and pick up the prisoners.

A company spokeswoman, Cathie Sullivan, told me in an e-mail that this case was a clerical error, an isolated mistake out of many cases. Still, she said, the jail warden has issued an "instructive memorandum."

Now, not to be impolite, but I don't think we should close this case by calling it a "clerical error." This was the violation of an important legal process that is the basis of civilized dealings among states, territories and nations. It is too important to be subject to mistake.

This case is especially important in this era of pell-mell privatization. The government is no less accountable for violating the Constitution or the law merely by virtue of having hired a private company.

We can't be casual about extradition. We just can't. It's a concept based in the U.S. Constitution. The process to be used in this state is spelled out in Chapter 942 of the Florida Statutes.

No U.S. state or territory, nor any foreign country, can just reach into Florida (or any other state) and grab whomever it pleases. There has to be a request, and proof of a criminal charge. Our governor has to issue a warrant. The citizen in question is entitled to a court hearing, if for no other reason than to make the claim: "They've got the wrong guy!"

You think the headlines would be bigger if it was, say, Fidel Castro instead of the Virgin Islands reaching into Florida to snatch somebody? Imagine Fidel's folks showing up one morning and declaring, "Gimme that Posada terrorist guy," and the local jail folks going, "Duh, okey-doke."

Or do the rules change according to whom we like and dislike?

Furthermore, this might have been, quite literally, a crime. It is a criminal act under Chapter 942, Florida Statues, to violate someone's lawful extradition rights. It most likely will be the subject of a federal lawsuit, the women's lawyer says.

So, what is Hernando County going to do about this? After all, this is the doing of the Hernando County Commission, which approved the contract. Saying "the company did this" is identical to saying, "the County Commission did this."

It fully merits the attention of Attorney General Charlie Crist, or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The state attorney, Brad King, needs to investigate. The sheriff should investigate, even though he can claim he's off the hook as well because it's a county contract.

The governor would be plenty justified in speaking out, since it is his power that is being ignored. (You can bet ol' Jeb would be hopping mad if the Floridian-grabbing outsider was somebody he didn't like!)

Certainly, the fact that Corrections Corp. of America is a big, powerful political force that throws its support behind elected officials should have no bearing.

Maybe you are thinking:

"Holy cow, why get so exercised over some mother-daughter team of alleged con artists who probably deserve what they get? Anyway, the government is only breaking the rules for bad people. The government will never break the rules for decent people like me. "

Right.

[Last modified May 24, 2005, 04:31:52]