Big Sky Blog

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Hoffman was unprepared for the press conference and clearly surprised at the turn out. He was unable to answer the questions put to him, telling the family of one suicide victim that he had no idea when the inquest into their son’s March suicide would be held. Nor did he know who was providing medical care to the inmates without asking his head jailer. He said his policies and procedures manual was being rewritten, though when asked what significant changes had been made to that manual he had to admit he didn’t know. He didn’t know how much of his budget was earmarked for mental health counseling, nor did he know how much time a mental health counselor had spent with the inmates.
It gets worse.
Facing the mother of one dead inmate and the widow of another, Hoffman helpfully explained to the crowd how, precisely, someone dies when he asphxiates himself in jail. It takes 28 seconds to lose consciousness, he said, and another four minutes to actually die. These uneccessary details were provided, apparently, to exonerate himself and his jailers by demonstrating that death can occur too quickly for jail staff to take notice. “Even if we had someone walking the length of the jail 24 hours a day, seven days a week . . . they’re probably going to be successful,” he said.
If his insensitivity wasn’t stunning enough, there was also his staggering cluelessness. Though he said repeatedly that his staff had no indication that any of the inmates were suicidal, the family members of two of the inmates said otherwise. One, Gem Wysel, widow of Scott Lewis, the last of the four suicides, angrily confronted Hoffman, saying her husband had attempted suicide by cop when he tried to get officers to shoot him in the confrontation that landed him in jail for the second time last December. Lewis had left a suicide note which, Wysel noted, was as good an indication as any that her husband was suicidal. “He tried to get a cop to shoot him,” she said. “Isn’t that a symptom?” Likewise, the family of Brad Palin, another suicide victim, said Palin’s suicidal tendencies were well known by the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office. Hoffman appeared flustered by the charges but continued to repeat the party line that all four suicides came out of the blue. “There are a lot of things I can’t explain,” he said, as if that wasn’t already obvious. “I will never comprehend the idea of suicide, much less the act,” he added as if that somehow helped soothe the families’ grief.
Despite his assurances that his office is being “proactive” Hoffman has done virtually nothing to figure out why his inmates are killing themselves, nor is he doing much, if anything, to prevent more. He’s contacted the National Institute of Corrections for an assessment of the jail and recommendations for change, though those recommendations are available online through the NIC website. The jailers have videos to watch, said the head jailer, though it wasn’t clear what kind of videos they were or whether the staff has actually watched them. Then there’s that policy and procedures manual.
The most tragic aspect of this whole sorry story, however, is that Hoffman ignored advice and recommendations he received from a jail medical provider shortly after he was elected. Indeed, he didn’t even remember the meeting, or the provider, though the provider remembered Hoffman as impatient, uninterested and eager to leave the meeting.
In short, Hoffman came across as hopelessly out-of-touch with the workings of his own jail, and his inappropriate comments to the families of the suicide victims appeared to make him look and sound uncaring. One got the feeling that his concerns were more for his future in politics, if he has one.
If any changes come about in the Ravalli County jail, don’t look for Hoffman to lead the charge. The Jackson Hole, Wyo. law firm run by celebrity lawyer Gerry Spence is already looking into a lawsuit on behalf of at least one of the victims, and more are doubtless in the works. If change comes, it will likely come as a court order.
Meanwhile, Bitterrooters are forced to live with not only an unsafe and ineptly run jail, but an over-zealous sheriff and prosecutor who have waged the war on drugs with alarming alacrity while the county’s six unsolved homicides seem to have fallen off the radar.
But that, as they say, is another story.

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- but he’s been avoiding me – hmmm. . .

I’d like to ask (beg) any of you who will “be in the neighborhood” to please come to offer support, suggestions and ideas. If you can’t be there – and you do have any ideas – please e-mail me. Right now I’m not using blogging as a genealogy tool – but I think that it can and should be utilized as one. Okay, I did start the cemetery blogs, but I haven’t updated them.

The YGF meetings usually draw quite a few people – a good mix of members, guests, and people who happened to hear about the program. Members are not just from Billings and Yellowstone County, but residents do make up the largest part at the meetings. So, if you’d like to talk about blogging and your blog – that would be wonderful. The members are a computer savvy bunch, from all walks of life, and all age groups. Honestly, I like to go because I enjoy being one of the youngsters.

This is the YGF website:

Which looks awful in Firefox – or is that just me? Anyhow, there are plenty of links for anyone researching Montana.

So, if you have thoughts – please let me know.

Thanks!

Sincerely,
Karen

Karbon Kounty Moos

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