A mentally retarded ex-inmate of the Nassau County (N.Y.) Jail is suing the top boss of the jail’s correctional officers’ union, Salvatore Gemelli, and the county for $100 million for violating his civil rights. According to the ex-inmate’s Feb. 23 testimony in U.S. Dist. Court in Brooklyn, the union boss assaulted him twice shortly after he arrived in the jail — one time with a pot and pan. The inmate was in jail on a child sexual abuse charge and later pled guilty to a misdemeanor. This trial came amid a federal investigation into the jail and its union. Gemelli denied the allegations at his Feb. 24 testimony. [N.Y. Times 2/24-25/99]
