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County governments in Utah may not have had the same dreadful experience with restraint chairs as the state has, but they should still heed the sorry lesson of the Michael Valent case. Counties must ensure that such devices are used only as a last resort and only under strict supervision.
According to a recent report in The Tribune, four of the state's five most populous counties use restraint chairs to control prisoners, even though the state has imposed a moratorium on their use in the wake of the death of Valent a year and a half ago. Valent, a mentally ill inmate at the state prison, died after...