10/14/2004
So much for the idea that Gov. Ruth Ann Minner is dealing with the aftermath of July's prison tragedy with an eye toward her re-election campaign. A professional handler would never allow such repeatedly inept responses.
The latest evidence that Minner's administration is politically tone-deaf came against the backdrop of the civil lawsuit filed Tuesday by lawyers for Cassandra Arnold, the prison counselor who was kidnapped and raped by inmate Scott A. Miller.
Arnold's lawyers, Jeffrey Martin and Herb Feuerhake, released a copy of a letter they received from Joseph C. Schoell, the governor's legal counsel, rejecting their proposal for a cash settlement. Nothing Minner's challengers could do or say could make the governor look worse.
Minner, you may recall, was quoted shortly after the incident as saying, "In prisons, you almost expect this to happen." In recent weeks, members of her staff have said Minner did not mean the comment in the callous way it has been interpreted, but that's hard to tell from Schoell's letter.
First it rejects the legal basis for damages based on the state creating an unsafe work environment, noting federal law doesn't permit employees in "inherently dangerous conditions" to recover money for job injuries. Arnold knew her job was inherently dangerous because she drew $2,520 in hazardous duty pay, the letter notes, and besides, Arnold has started collecting worker compensation benefits.
This might be a valid legal position, but in public relations terms it's a disaster.
But the real insult came later in the day. After Arnold's lawyers released Schoell's letter with the settlement proposal blacked out, Minner, or some genius in her office, decided to counter punch by releasing it with the $3.9 million figure included.
"If the letter is out there, the point is to make sure it's the complete version," said one of Minner's ever-present mouthpieces. Of course, the real intent is obvious - show the public that Arnold and her money-grubbing lawyers are out to reap a financial windfall.
Yeah, that's the ticket to Easy Street: Get yourself kidnapped by a rapist on a 699-year sentence who holds a homemade ice pick at your throat and declares he has nothing to lose by killing you. After he binds your hands and rapes you, make sure he's shot through the heart, bleeds all over your naked body, and tries in his death throes to make good his murderous threat. Where does the line form for that gravy train?
In one sense, it's all to the public good that Minner and her administration are so politically inept. Had the state chosen to settle, it would no doubt seek to muzzle Arnold with a confidentiality agreement, and we would be left the way officials prefer us - oblivious to the ineptitude of a prison system trying to operate on a shoestring.
Meanwhile, the seven-member task force Minner appointed last week includes three Democratic lawyers who contributed the maximum $1,200 to her re-election campaign: attorneys Thomas P. McGonigle, Rebecca B. Kidner and Brian D. Shirey. Nobody thinks they'll be anything but impartial, but I have to wonder: If Minner repays her supporters by handing them such a thankless task, imagine what she does to her enemies.
Contact Al Mascitti at 324-2866 or amascitti@delawareonline.com.
