Suspensions

Your head says Michael Vick has served his time, has suffered some punishment for his horrific involvement in a dogfighting ring and that people who have committed more serious crimes are allowed to leave prison and go back to work.

Sixteen Arizona corrections employees have been fired, suspended or otherwise disciplined for their roles in the death of an inmate left in an outdoor holding cell for four hours in triple-digit heat, and for a punishment practiced at the prison where she died. Three of those disciplined were fired, two stepped down rather than be dismissed, 10 received suspensions ranging from 40 to 80 hours, and one was demoted. Two others are to be disciplined after they return from medical leave.

The doping suspension of Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez on Thursday has revived a debate that Major League Baseball undoubtedly hoped it had put behind it: Is the sport's anti-drug program finally harsh enough to deter potential dopers, or is it still too lenient? Baseball "has come a long way in the last seven years," said Dr. Gary I. Wadler, a New York sports medicine expert and a key official of the World Anti-Doping Agency. "But it's still not where it needs to be."

Martina Hingis' attempt to cast doubt on the drug-testing process was rejected Friday by the International Tennis Federation, which suspended her for two years for testing positive for cocaine. Hingis, the former No. 1 who won five Grand Slam singles titles, retired a second time in November -- immediately after revealing that she had failed a test during Wimbledon last summer.

Most Los Angeles police officers who are suspended without pay for misconduct rely on an unusual union-run insurance policy to reimburse them for lost wages. The pool of money -- thought to be the only one of its kind in the country and unknown to many outside the department's rank and file -- has come under sudden scrutiny from police watchdogs concerned about its effect on how officers are punished.

SAN DIEGO -- The Dodgers have told shortstop Rafael Furcal to cease all baseball activities, raising the possibility his recovery from a back injury could extend well into July. "He's gotten a little frustrated," Manager Joe Torre said. The Dodgers officially list the injury as soreness in the lower back, but Torre confirmed the specific diagnosis is a bulging disk. Dr.

The WNBA suspended five Sparks players, including Candace Parker and Lisa Leslie, and five Detroit Shock players and assistant coach Rick Mahorn Thursday for their involvement in an on-court fight in Tuesday's game. As a result, the Sparks were without four starters, including Olympians Parker, Leslie and DeLisha Milton-Jones for their game against the Connecticut Sun on Thursday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Sparks lost, 87-61, to the Sun.

Trainer Doug O'Neill, who plans to saddle two horses in this week's Breeders' Cup, has been placed on probation for one year after one of his horses had a positive drug test. O'Neill agreed to pay a $7,500 fine and serve a 30-day suspension, which will be stayed pending his probation, for violating four state racing rules in a stipulated agreement with the California Horse Racing Board.

Brian France has his share of critics, but it was hard to dispute NASCAR's chairman when he once observed that cheating in stock car racing has "been going on forever. It will go on forever." Even though France and other NASCAR officials have tried to stamp out cheating with tougher penalties -- especially with the Car of Tomorrow now being driven in the top-tier Sprint Cup Series -- the rules violations just keep on coming. The latest: the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota driven by Brian Vickers.

The principal of an Orange County high school was placed on leave last week after his arrest on suspicion of lewd conduct in a public place, according to a school official and police. Brent Bailey, 56, principal of El Modena High School in Orange, was arrested at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 27 in a public restroom near Brea Dam in Fullerton during a sting operation, said police Lt. Doug Cave. He said police regularly patrol the area because it is known as a meeting place for public sexual activity.