The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed Tuesday to request outside help to force Sheriff Laurie Smith to be transparent about ongoing problems in the county’s main jail.
Citing at least three high-profile inmate cases that involved mistreatment, lawsuits and millions of dollars in damages, supervisors approved at their Aug. 17 meeting a referral with a host of action items. They include: public release of a report and video related to inmate Andrew Hogan, who was awarded a $10 million settlement; compliance with the Office of Correction and Law Enforcement Monitoring; and a request for review by the state Office of the Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice (added at Tuesday’s meeting) and the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury.
Proposed by Supervisors Joe Simitian and Otto Lee, the proposal also took aim at Smith’s alleged history of political favoritism, directing investigation by the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission.
“Given the lack of transparency and limitations of (supervisors’) authority, we have no other choice,” Simitian and Otto stated.
Smith held a press conference Tuesday, blaming understaffing for slow progress on jail reforms. She rejected calls for resignation, most notably from San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo.
