TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE AT JAIL

What happened at the Greene County Jail last Sunday night is
inexcusable.

Two jailers - one on his first night of duty - have been charged with
four counts of third-degree assault for urinating on four inmates.

Urinating.

The malicious and despicable incident is made more disturbing by its
racist overtones. The two accused jailers are white; the four men who
say they received the disgusting shower are black.

The men who said they got wet are being held pending trial on charges
including drug trafficking and robbery. Keeping accused people in jail
because they can't come up with bail money is part of the rules of the
justice system. Having their keepers pee on them is not. Jailed or no,
people must be treated as human beings.

County officials are rightfully appalled and have condemned the
incident. Though the inmates were upset about an hour lockdown during
which they were unable to wash the urine from their bodies, this
investigation moved relatively swiftly, compared with the way it could
have been. Questions were asked, samples were taken, and within days
charges were filed against the suspected jailers, who quickly resigned.

If the jailers are found guilty, Greene County Prosecutor Darrell
Moore has said he will push for jail time. We urge Moore to continue
investigating whether the crime was racially motivated, even though he
has said preliminary investigations are inconclusive.

Officials must take an unyielding position on the incident. Greene
County is a metropolitan county, not some backwater. What reportedly
occurred in the jail would make plenty of people wonder.

Greene County Sheriff Jack Merritt says no one is more offended and
embarrassed about what apparently happened than he is. As the county's
top law enforcement official, he should feel that way. He is
ultimately responsible for what happens in his department. The actions
of his employees reflect directly on him.

Expressing appropriate regret is easy. Addressing disturbing events
with candor and honesty takes guts. After about a half-year as
sheriff, Merritt has shown us he's got them. His forthrightness,
exhibited in this case and earlier this year when a jailer was charged
with child pornography, is refreshing after the long reign of former
Sheriff John T. Pierpont and his characteristic evasiveness.

"The lack of communication can create the worst problems," Merritt
said. "In most cases, openness can solve the worst problems."

Merritt has learned that lesson through his many years in law
enforcement and certainly through his own experience during the Lisa
Revelle murder trial, when he had to face his own humiliating error of
judgment.

When asked how he made the decision to deal with the incident last
week, Merritt said, "I couldn't be comfortable any other way than to
just be honest about it." To us it sounds like integrity speaking, and
we are ready to see that quality make its way through the ranks at the
Greene County jail.

Forthrightness is a good start for what must become an unflinching
examination of exactly what is going on at the jail. Any other
employees who might share the values of those accused must be smoked
out. The sheriff and his capable chief deputy must clean house.
Inmates have told unsavory stories about the jail for years. It's time
the doors are thrown open and the roaches given nowhere to hide.