Twisting words to avoid following the law is a problem, especially when being done in a jail.

In May 2020, almost 70% of Allegheny County voters agreed with a referendum on the ballot that called for radically restricting solitary confinement at the county jail. While often referred to as a ban, that’s not quite accurate. The language of the law specifies that solitary confinement — any separated detention over 20 hours — is prohibited “except for limited circumstances and not to be used as punishment.”

In other words, if an inmate must be held separately for a legitimate reason, it should be fewer than 20 hours unless absolutely necessary. The warden also is required to give monthly accountings of how often those “limited circumstances” occur and why. The new practice took effect Dec. 5.

Warden Orlando Harper may have a different definition than the voters. According to the Jail Oversight Board Segregation Report, those limited circumstances occurred 294 times last month. For 11 women and 19 men, the duration was the entire month of December — decidedly longer than 20 hours.

The reason for every instance was noted only as “safety.”

If there is that profound of a safety issue at the Allegheny County Jail, it begs the question why? It also suggests real problems with leadership.

Perhaps the problem is an inability to follow rules — as much by the administration as the inmates.

The same referendum banned use of restraint chairs. Yet Harper admitted at the Jail Oversight Board meeting Thursday that guards have instead strapped “hostile” inmates to a gurney instead in order to transport them.

In September, the oversight board banned weapons that look like firearms. But Harper, when asked, said, “We do have officers carrying special delivery devices.”

The issues are not limited to failing to follow the rules. It also points to a bristling under any criticism.

When the jail asked for help from the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Corrections last year, expert Gary Raney came in, in September. He was critical of Joseph Lee Garcia, a consultant Harper brought in on a $300,000 no-bid contract for training after the referendum restrictions. Days later, the county withdrew its request for help.

What is most troubling is that little of this sounds new. Instead, it sounds like business as usual at a jail that has been the subject of repeated lawsuits and complaints.

But this time, it isn’t just the inmates whose statements are being shrugged off. It isn’t just opposition from the oversight board from voices such as county Council Member Bethany Hallam. It isn’t a lawyer or a commission or a group that protects inmate rights.

This time, Harper is actively and openly disregarding the ultimate authority in Allegheny County: the people. The voters. And 70% is a decisive majority.

No one hired by government can ever be allowed to disregard the voice of the voters. Harper can parse the words however he wants, but ignoring the law to do what you want is, by any definition, wrong.

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