Time for Clarke to go

The national debacle and embarrassment known as Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. must come to an end.

With the recommendations to file criminal charges against seven correctional staff in the Milwaukee County Jail for the death of inmate Terrill Thomas made by an inquest jury, this should be the final chapter in the long and tumultuous career of Clarke (“Charges urged in jail death,” May 2).

He should either resign or the electorate should hold him accountable at the ballot box in the next election.

Managing the jail is one of the state constitutionally mandated tasks the Sheriff is required to perform, and with these spate of deaths the past 18 months, the sheriff has demonstrated he is not willing or capable of fulling the requirements of the law, hence his removal is necessary.

As a criminal justice professor and a person who works with and has trained thousands of criminal justice professionals, I know what it means to be a leader of a criminal justice organization: integrity, honesty, competence, fair mindedness and, ultimately, a commitment to upholding the law and supporting the best practices to achieve justice as defined by our laws. .

While the sheriff was not implicated in any of the deaths in the jail, nor was it recommended that he be criminally charged for the actions of his staff, the ultimate decision on charging rests with District Attorney John Chisholm. He has the responsibility to also uphold the law and go where the facts lead him.

What is certain are the civil lawsuits that will be brought against the sheriff’s office as a result of these deaths. The payouts could be in the millions of dollars. There is a cost to being indifferent to the legal needs of inmates housed in the jail.

Stan Stojkovic dean and professor University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee