Many cases of inmates walking out of TCF

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After hearing an account from three  inmates who walked out of the Territorial Correctional Facility gates to look for food, Chief Justice Michael Kruse continued the sentencing of the trio and directed attorneys to look seriously into what’s happened.

The three inmates – Andrew Peters, Jason Muasau and Vatia Tugaga, told the court that for three days all they had was tea. And on July 6 they walked out of the TCF and went to Peters’ home to eat.

Peters said that there are food supplies to fix meals but if inmates assigned to cook don’t feel like it, they won’t prepare meals or they will fix food that is not fit to eat.

The three inmates went to Peters’ house that day, ate, then returned to the TCF.

They said the only reason they left was because they were hungry and they had no intention to steal or beat anyone while they were out.

They vowed they would never leave the TCF again; that it’s a crime.

Peters said if he gets hungry again, he will read his Bible and pray for strength to serve his time and return home.

The information came from answers that the three men gave in a candid question-and-answer discourse between them and the Chief Justice, especially Peters.

In the end, Kruse said that the management of the prison is not a function of the sentencing court.

Rather, the function of the court is to address why defendants did what they did and explore a remedy.

And the options available to the court are the use of behavioral change or reformation or a deterrent.

Kruse said the court will not get involved in management of prisons; that function is the governor’s and the executive branch.

He said if offering a carrot doesn’t work then one uses the stick method.

The Chief Justice posed questions regarding the immediate case.

Is it a shortfall in prison management?

Is it being hungry to the point that inmates just take measures into their own hands?

Or is it simply a matter of resource allocation?

Kruse said the court is seeing cases of people walking out the prison gates too often.

He said this is not safe for the community and sometimes the community gets hurt when the inmates take a walk.

The Chief Justice continued the sentencing for two weeks and directed the attorneys to seriously think about what has happened. He also called the attorneys to chambers.