Justice in the Shadows: Private Influence and the Case of the Secret Letter The Tippecanoe County Courthouse in Lafayette, Indiana, where local justice is administered. A recent controversy from within its halls has raised questions about backchannel influence in the judicial process. A Secret Letter to Tippecanoe County’s Prosecutor On a Monday afternoon in September 2024, Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Patrick Harrington received an unusual email. The sender, Caitie Cataldo, introduced herself as a former court reporter for now-Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush, recalling their past work together in Tippecanoe’s Superior Court. Cataldo wasn’t writing with a simple greeting, however. She had a very specific request : that Harrington ensure a particular inmate—a pregnant woman identified here as AMP —remain incarcerated until she gave birth . Cataldo explained that AMP was her adopted son’s biological mother, a woman struggling with addiction who had alre...
0 Welcome to the Watchdog Blog , where we aspire to track crime, punishment, and government practices in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. Our mission is to expose how reforms can create new injustices if not properly implemented. In this post, we dive into “bail jail” —a term we coined to describe pretrial detention systems that drain defendants' financial resources even after they've posted bail. We'll also explore how government overreach has chipped away at constitutional protections , with examples at federal, state, and local levels . Bail Jail: How It Works The concept of bail jail arises from systems where posting bond is no longer enough to secure release. Defendants like Ashlynn Perigo , arrested in Tippecanoe County , are held in spite of posting bail , forced into pretrial programs with extra fees and monitoring conditions. The pretrial release program does nothing more than strip the accused of a way to hire private counsel, beca...