By C1 Staff
SYRACRUSE, NY — Two inmate deaths inside the Onondaga County Justice Center have both advocates and county legislators eyeing the idea of a jail oversight committee.
Syracruse.com reports that a proposal for the committee is expected, but has not yet been made public. Legislators have been talking about the creation of an oversight for the facility, plagued with issues, since last year.
Advocates say the new committee would honor Chuniece Patterson and Raul Pinet Jr., two inmates who died while in custody.
Pinet died while being restrained with a mask in 2010. The county medical examiner and the state Commission of Correction called it a homicide, but a grand jury decided criminal charges weren’t warranted.
Patterson died of ruptured ectopic pregnancy in 2009 A jail nurse who treated Patterson was found by the state Commission of Correction to have acted with “gross negligence and incompetence.” A judge ordered taxpayers to pay her family $385,000 as compensation for their loss.
Thirteen years earlier, Lucinda Batts also died of ruptured ectopic pregnancy while in custody.
The same deputy was accused in both instances of ignoring their pleas for help.
Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh believes a committee is not necessary because the jail already has oversight from the Commission of Correction and the sheriff’s office meets monthly with the county Division of Human Rights and Jail Ministry.