On my way to work each morning, I walk past the Attorney General’s office on South Main Street, and I never tire of giggling at the building’s inscription:

With great power comes great responsibility. — Stan Lee

Yesterday, it seems, this motto received more than mere lip service when special assistant AG Molly K. Cote managed to prove two ACI guards—Former Capt. Gualter Botas and former Lt. Kenneth Viveiros—guilty on charges of assaulting four inmates.

The ProJo reports:

Yesterday’s verdicts, which culminated an 18-day trial before Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Procaccini, came after jurors had deliberated for less than four hours over the course of two days.

Afterward, state corrections Director A.T. Wall issued a statement that began with a quote from former President Theodore Roosevelt: “No man is above the law and no man is beneath it.”

“These two former correctional officers have now been held accountable in a court of law for their abuse of inmates entrusted to their custody,” Wall said. “They do not represent the staff of this department. In fact, through their actions, they have dishonored the 1,500 men and women who perform their jobs with pride, professionalism and integrity every day. These men and women do a very difficult job, and they do it without breaking the law.”

Their charges are misdemeanors, carrying a maximum sentence of up to one year in prison. Can you imagine the fate of an inmate convicted of beating inmates? Botas and Viveiros have yet to be sentenced, but each, rightly, has been fired by the Department of Corrections.

Believe it or not, the folks here at Daily Dose have asked me to continue in my duties as Ombudsman. Apparently, like all people in abusive relationships, they believe that if they love me enough I’ll eventually stop hitting them. So let’s get started. (more…)

John Taraborelli has been appointed ombudsman of the Dose. Yeah, I had to look up that word too…

I have been appointed ombudsman because I represent a crucial minority among Daily Dose contributors: heterosexual, non-Ivy league gentiles. Truthfully, I don’t quite understand the task. I’ve been asked to assess the quality of an essentially useless product. It’s akin to working in the quality control department at the Pet Rock factory. However, as the countless shallow, unmarked graves that pock Lincoln Woods can attest, when given a job I see it through. And so let us begin the critique.

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