Elliott County Jailer Charles F. Howard — who should immediately resign from his elected office — is now a convicted rapist.
In addition to abusing the authority given to him by the voters of Elliott County, Howard is guilty of betraying the trust the voters placed in him. Even if the sex with the female prisoner was consensual, as Howard claims it was, it represents a blatant abuse of his power. In neighboring Ohio and a number of other states that alone would be a crime.
Howard should never have agreed to transport a female prisoner alone. Indeed, it went against the the standard procedure in Elliott County. However, Howard’s wife, who normally accompanied him when transporting female prisoners, was not available, and from the evidence presented at the trail, Howard took advantage of her absence.
As the elected jailer in a county without a jail, Howard’s only duties were to transport those arrested in Elliott County to lockups in another county.
Howard’s attorney, Michael Curtis, said the verdict would be appealed, saying he believed the jury had punished his client because of his status as an elected official. That’s his perogative, of course, but from our vantage point, justice was served in this case. There were enough holes in Howard’s version of the events of that day to convince the jury that he — and not the victim — was lying.
Editorials
Abuse of power — 01/02/09
Convicted Elliott County jailer should immediately resign
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Earmarks again?
Immediately, following the midterm elections of 2010 which saw Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives and capture seats in the U.S. Senate, Republican leaders in Congress announced they had heard the voice of the voters and vowed to cease using “earmarks,” the name given to appropriations slipped into bills by influential legislators without a vote.
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Best in the nation
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After the vote
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A mild winter
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Devices banned
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A free weekend
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Ho-hum election
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A real rush job
By giving first reading approval to two identical ordinances creating the Northeast Regional Jail Authority, elected leaders in Boyd and Carter counties are reviving a 30-year-old political issue — only this time with different results.
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KCTC leads way
The ability of Kentucky to compete with other states and the rest of the world for the good jobs of tomorrow keeps improving by degrees.
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Slow decline?
Louisville’s Churchill Downs is seeing its shortest spring meets since 1975, and some owners, trainers and breeders fear they could get even shorter. That is unless the Kentucky General Assembly has a change of heart and gives the home of the Kentucky Derby the option of increasing its nonracing revenue by offering new forms of gambling.
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Earmarks again?




