ASH: Sentencing reform, not more prisons, is smart on crime.

He's not the abolitionist that I am, but I truly love this man (I hope no one holds that against him). His piece here speaks for itself.

----------------from the Arizona Republic------------------

by Representative Cecil Ash

Sept. 23, 2011

While headlines in 13 other states read, "State reduces prison capacity," the headline in Arizona will soon say, "State awarding bids to private prisons for 5,000 new beds."

As a conservative Republican, I support the privatization of many government services: in schools, where the consumers of the product are its purchasers; in construction, where the project is open to public scrutiny; in maintenance, where performance can be observed or measured. In each of these cases, the provider's goal of a profit is subject to the forces of the competitive marketplace.

With private prisons, however, the consumers of the product (the inmates) have no say in its quality. The free market is not in play. They cannot take their business and go elsewhere.

The goal of the private prison - profit - is antithetical to the goals of the state: incarceration, rehabilitation and the reduction of recidivism. In fact, the less rehabilitation, the more recidivism, the greater numbers to be incarcerated, the better for the private-prison industry's bottom line.

Inherent in the argument to use private prisons is the claim that they operate more cost-effectively than state-run institutions. Studies have not shown this to be true.

Nor does the state's experience last summer in Kingman, when three dangerous prisoners escaped, suggest that they are more secure.

The exact amount of the expenditure for these 5,000 new beds is unknown. But it will be in the millions of dollars.

There is another alternative: Re-examine the provisions of our criminal code. Here are some options:

- Grant medical parole to prisoners whose physical condition prevents them from being a threat to public safety. For example, Arizona houses a female inmate who has become blind in prison. Is there really any reason to continue her incarceration?

- Restore incentives for prisoners to earn earlier release. Currently, all prisoners must serve 85 percent of their sentence, leaving the last 15 percent to be served under community supervision. Is there any reason that inmates who have a good disciplinary record and who have taken all the rehab programs available and otherwise abided by the rules should not be released at 60 percent of their sentence and be under community supervision for the last 40 percent of their sentence?

- Give judges discretion to deviate from mandated sentences where appropriate. In Payson last month, the criminal code required the judge to give a 73-year-old man a 90-year sentence for a non-violent first offense. The judge felt probation was more appropriate.

- Provide for more rehab and treatment programs for substance abusers, even where people may have failed the first time. (How many people quit smoking on their first attempt?)

- Allow DUI defendants who agree to refrain from alcohol and wear a GPS bracelet that indicates alcohol consumption to remain on home arrest rather than serve time in prison. Appropriate exceptions could apply where there has been serious injury or where the person has violated the probation by consuming alcohol.

The implementation of any or all of the above options could save the state millions of dollars, negating the need for 5,000 new prison beds.

I would then use these savings to restore funding to the developmentally disabled population and to perform long-delayed maintenance on existing prison facilities.

There may be problems with any one or all of the above recommendations. But Texas recently avoided spending $750 million on more beds by restructuring its criminal-justice system and simultaneously saw its crime rate drop. This is happening in a number of other states. Arizona should do the same.

Cecil Ash, a Mesa Republican, represents District 18 in the Legislature.

TX may parole elderly early...why not AZ?

The Texas legislature seems to be a little smarter than the AZ legs, these days...

Go figure.

---------------------------

Medical expenses could create elderly parolees

Parole debate points to rising medical costs.

By Renee Lee/

Houston Chronicle

Updated 11:56 p.m., Sunday, May 15, 2011

A growing population of elderly inmates is driving up prison medical care costs to the point that some Texas lawmakers would like to see more of those who are feeble and chronically ill released early.

In the last decade, the number of inmates 55 and older has spiked as much as 8 percent each year, growing to about 12,500, while the general inmate population has remained fairly flat.

In prisons throughout the country, inmates grow old serving longer sentences and enter prison at an older age. Between 1999 and 2008, the number of inmates 55 and older in state and federal prisons increased by 76 percent to 76,400 inmates, according to the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. The general population grew by 18 percent.

With rising medical care costs and dwindling state budgets, policy-makers and prison officials have struggled to keep pace. Elderly inmates in Texas make up 8 percent of the state's prison population, yet they account for more than 30 percent of prison hospitalization costs.

In fiscal year 2010, the state spent more than $545 million on inmate health care. It paid $4,853 per elderly offender for inpatient and outpatient care compared with $795 for inmates under 55, according to the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee.

Legislators this session considered a bill that would have required release of certain elderly and sick inmates to community settings, such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Outside prison, many inmates would qualify for Medicaid, lessening the state's financial burden.

The legislation died after failing to make last week's calendar deadline. But lawmakers grapple with the issue every session. Inmates are constitutionally entitled to receive medical care, so states must balance the quality of care with its cost.

State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, said he would like to see prison space freed up for more dangerous criminals and the cost savings used for law enforcement.

“We certainly need to continue to be sensitive and smart about who becomes old and invalid and doesn't pose a public danger,” Whitmire said. “In times of fiscal concern, we're spending $1 million or more on inmates who can't get out of bed or are really sick individuals. It's just nuts.”

Research shows that most elderly offenders experience an average of three chronic illnesses while incarcerated. Among the most common are arthritis, hypertension, ulcers, heart attacks, diabetes, hepatitis C and cancer, according to the National Institute of Corrections.

Many prisons are not properly equipped to care for the elderly, said Robert Aday, a professor at Middle Tennessee State University and author of a book on aging prisoners. Some states group them in special needs facilities or in centralized geriatric wings to reduce medical costs, he said.

“The sheer numbers are overwhelming them,” Aday said. “A convergence of trends, including enhanced sentencing, more prisons built, and the graying of American people, it's created this crisis.”

In Texas, more than 1,000 offenders are identified each year as being eligible for medical parole, according to a Legislative Budget Board report. About a third of those are processed and presented to the state parole board, which approves 25 percent of those cases each year. Since 1991, 1,287 offenders have been released under the program — about 64 prisoners per year, the report said.

Prisoner Patrick Lee Ross' tragic death: more to the story

Last week on Arizona Prison Watch I posted a press release from the Arizona Department of Corrections about the suicide of a young prisoner named Patrick Ross. This morning I found that someone who knew and loved him had left a comment following that post. It suggested that there was more to the story, so I went to the Phoenix New Times to check the comments section there. Indeed, his loved one posted there, too, elaborating even more on Patrick's struggles and articulating his own sense of rage and loss.

The kid was apparently dying already, and not getting the medical care he needed - nor, do I suspect, was he about to get a compassionate release out of our governor, especially with an armed robbery conviction and more than 12 more years to serve. I doubt he was really sent to Oklahoma for "better" medical care - they probably just figured they could warehouse him more cheaply there and let Cornell take the heat from the family when he died. The judge who sentenced him - probably to the mandatory minimum, because of his prior conviction - was either oblivious to the realities of incarceration and compassionate release, or he knowingly gave the family false hopes by relaying their willingness to be his caregiver to the ADC as if it might ever happen. I can't imagine he didn't know that kid would never see freedom again.

Since Patrick's story in that comment would just be lost in the archives of the New Times, I'm reposting it here, in full, with the crass article that precipitated it. I'm a survivor of suicide myself, and am particularly sensitive to what these folks must be going through - callous remarks from people who know nothing about the person who died are only hurtful to those left behind to make sense of it all.

Anyway, I think it's important for the community to know the side of the story that would otherwise be buried with Patrick and his family's grief. If anyone out there who knew him wants to send me an obituary or write something about his struggles in prison with his illness specifically for this site, contact me at arizonaprisonwatch@gmail.com

First, the Phx New Times article, then the comment.

Wishing you peace and freedom for the rest of your journey, Patrick.

--------------------------------

Arizona Inmate Housed in Oklahoma Prison Dead in Apparent Suicide

By James King, Wed., Sep. 1 2010 @ 11:33AM

An Arizona prison inmate, being housed in a private prison in Hinton, Oklahoma, is dead after apparently taking the easy way out, rather than completing his sentence.

Officials at the Arizona Department of Corrections tell New Times inmate Patrick Ross was found dead in his cell around 7:50 a.m. yesterday.

Responding Medical teams tried to revive Ross but were unsuccessful.

DOC officials wouldn't say how Ross killed himself only saying he died "after apparently committing suicide."

Ross was serving a 13-year sentence -- at a private prison run by Cornell Companies -- for an armed robbery he committed in Maricopa County.

Ross began his sentence in December 2009 and ended it -- apparently on his own terms -- yesterday.

DOC is investigating the death.

------------------

Shawn Humphreys (comment added September 6, 2010)

Suicide, my ass suicide. PATRICK ross was an incredible human being, with a sad story and a debilitating disease that was taking over his life. His family was told he was being moved to Oklahoma so that he could get better treatment for Huntington's Chorea. He was supposed to get released into his grandmothers care in Wa. state when his symptoms worsened and the prison could no longer take care of him, as she is trained in caring for people with this disease. This is obviously another case where they, being the prison system, has failed to help a inmate who was sick and trying to turn their life around. So what do they do? Cover their asses by saying it was a suicide. FUCKED! IN LOVING MEMORY PATRICK LEE ROSS YOU WILL BE GREATLY MISSED WE LOVE YOU

This is my friend, Davon.

This is a recent letter from my friend, Davon Acklin. He doesn't mention the campaign going on for him out here, but I know he's worried about the other guys there who are sicker than him; as Julie said at one point, this is about them, too.

We need to push on the clemency process so people don't have to die in prison who weren't sentenced to do so. We need more transparency and public dialogue about the treatment of hepatitis C in both the community and our human warehouses (prisons, schools, shelters, hospitals...). We need to make sure that health care is adequate in the prisons. And we need to bring home the sick and dying.




Anyway, this is the good soul I know Davon to be, describing the daily challenges of getting by in prison, worrying about how I was doing in the wake of a recent assault, and talking about having to always look tough in there to keep himself safe. He talks about his sister growing up, and what a terror he was at her age, and how he needs to be a good influence on his little sister, who looks up to him.

Here's a picture of Davon looking tough in his prison orange. He does a good job of it when he has to, but he's a real sweetie. That's why I'm posting this letter, which you can barely make out but you should get the gist of - he was worried about how I'd been getting along, and really touched that I brought his dad, Greg, down for a visit. He can't wait to see his sister and Mom, Not a mention of being sick; I think in a way he's a little uncomfortable with all this attention.

Despite his discomfort with being a poster child for prisoners with Hep C, Davon gave us his blessings to use our own discretion in all this organizing and activism around him because he thinks that by advocating for him his mom will end up helping the other guys he sees there. That's precisely what she's hoping to do.

Given the stigma associated with infectious diseases like HIV and Hepatitis (not to mention a psychiatric disability and a record as a violent criminal) I think that's a pretty courageous position for a young prisoner to take. Davon will be forever Googled back to these pages, with his mom and her friends laying out this crisis in his life for the world to see and judge - something he's willing to risk if doing so will help others.

Now, does that sound like a dangerous criminal? We call that 'lifting as we climb'. That's how we make sure we don't leave anyone behind in this revolution...

The ADC can cause Davon all sorts of grief if they want to, of course, but I don't think they'll stoop to that - it isn't necessary or productive, and it'll just set Julie off on them again. She's trying to focus on building membership in his facebook cause and getting his petition signed for the AZ Board of Executive Clemency right now, and if she's successful then she'll be out of the ADC's hair soon enough. It would be in their best interests to make every effort to help her succeed, not get in her way.

So, hit those links up there for us, and join and sign and spread the word. It's important to show that Davon has a community to come home to that will embrace him and help him keep both his liberty and his sanity. That community is global, now - Davon has friends he hasn't met yet as far away as the Netherlands. His community of correspondents are especially important for the Clemency Board to get personal letters from (in addition to signing the petition), no matter where you may be in the world.

Please help us free Davon.

Thanks for your time.

- Peggy Plews

The dying, prison, and Adam Montoya.

For those who still think that prisoners get great medical care, think again. This is not an unusual story...sounds like Marcia Powell's.

If you wish you could have helped this guy - or Marcia Powell, for that matter - and want to know how to make a difference here: please take a minute and help someone still living. Free Davon Acklin. That will take you straight to the petition his mom has going supporting her request that he be pardoned by Governor Brewer so she can bring him home for medical care.

He's only 23, and he has hep C and needs a liver biopsy. He's not getting treatment at the ADC, either, so your time and good name for the cause would be appreciated.

------------------from Salon.com-----------------------

Ill. inmate died in agony while pleading for help

By DAVID MERCER, Associated Press
June 27, 2010

For days before he died in a federal prison, Adam Montoya pleaded with guards to be taken to a doctor, pressing a panic button in his cell over and over to summon help that never came.

An autopsy concluded that the 36-year-old inmate suffered from no fewer than three serious illnesses -- cancer, hepatitis and HIV. The cancer ultimately killed him, causing his spleen to burst. Montoya bled to death internally.

But the coroner and a pathologist were more stunned by another finding: The only medication in his system was a trace of over-the-counter pain reliever.

That means Montoya, imprisoned for a passing counterfeit checks, had been given nothing to ease the excruciating pain that no doubt wracked his body for days or weeks before death.

"He shouldn't have died in agony like that," Coroner Dennis Conover said. "He had been out there long enough that he should have at least died in the hospital."

The FBI recently completed an investigation into Montoya's death and gave its findings to the Justice Department, which is reviewing the case. If federal prosecutors conclude that Montoya's civil rights were violated, they could take action against the prison, its guards, or both. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, saying that the matter was still being investigated.

The coroner said guards should have been aware that something was seriously wrong with the inmate. And outside experts agree that the symptoms of cancer and hepatitis would have been hard to miss: dramatic weight loss, a swollen abdomen, yellow eyes.

During Montoya's final days, he "consistently made requests to the prison for medical attention, and they wouldn't give it to him," said his father, Juan Montoya, who described how his son repeatedly punched the panic button. Three inmates corroborated that account in interviews with The Associated Press.

The younger Montoya was taken to the prison clinic one day for "maybe five, 10 minutes," his father said. "And they gave him Tylenol, and that was it. He suffered a lot."

The federal prison in Pekin will not discuss Montoya's death. Prison spokesman Jay Henderson referred questions to the Bureau of Prisons, which denied an AP request for information on Montoya's medical condition, citing privacy laws.

It isn't clear whether the prison system, relatives or even Montoya himself knew the full extent of his illness. Montoya's father had no idea his son had cancer or hepatitis. Inmates who knew him said he told them he had cancer, but they knew nothing of his HIV.

According to its website, the Bureau of Prisons tries to screen the health of new inmates within 24 hours of their arrival. A closer examination within two weeks is required for prisoners with serious, long-term illnesses. But officials have not said whether Montoya was given any kind of exam or whether his medical records made it to Pekin.

Montoya pleaded guilty in May 2009 to counterfeiting commercial checks, credit cards and gift cards. Prosecutors will not say how much money was involved in the scheme, but Montoya was ordered to pay a little over $2,000 in restitution.

Montoya, who had a history of methamphetamine abuse, was released while awaiting sentencing and was ordered not to use drugs. At the time, he was living with his father and working for his father's process-serving business, which delivers legal documents. His father said he was paying Montoya's bills and paying him about $300 a week.

Then in mid-June, Adam Montoya was diagnosed with HIV.

"It hit him like a ton of bricks," his father said.

After the diagnosis, Montoya retreated back into methamphetamine. Following a urine test, he admitted using the drug three times in a month, and he was locked up.

Montoya began taking antiviral drugs, so his father still had hope and tried to give his son a sense of the same. "I thought, 'You'll get out. You'll get your probation, and you'll have years of life," the elder Montoya said.

In mid-October, Montoya was sentenced to two years and three months in prison. When he arrived at a federal prison transfer center in Oklahoma City, his medication was waiting for him. His father took that to mean that the prison system knew Montoya suffered from HIV.

Montoya arrived at the Pekin prison on Oct. 26. He lived just 18 more days. The inmates around him say he spent much of that time pleading for help from his cell.

Prison staff told Montoya he had the flu, according to Randy Rader, an inmate in the next cell who wrote letters to his mother about Montoya and discussed him in an e-mail interview with the AP.

"That man begged these people for nine days locked behind these doors," Rader wrote to his mother on Nov. 14. The letter was first obtained by The Pekin Daily Times, which wrote about Montoya's death earlier this year.

Rader has since been moved to a prison in California -- far from his family in Michigan. He suspects the move was retaliation for speaking out about Montoya.

The last time a staff member visited Montoya, about 10 p.m. on Nov. 12, he reported having trouble breathing and complained that he could no longer feel his fingers, Rader said in the e-mail interview. The staff member told Montoya that he would try to get help the next day.

Around 6:30 a.m., prison officials found Montoya's body in his cell.

The autopsy showed that Montoya's spleen was almost 10 times the normal weight because it had been engulfed by a cancerous tumor, which was on its way to doing the same with his liver.

The pathologist who examined Montoya's body said his eyes were also yellow -- an unmistakable sign of hepatitis. Dr. John Ralston is reluctant to speculate whether treatment could have saved Montoya's life by the time he reached Pekin. The doctor suspects he would have needed a liver transplant to have a chance.

That said, "You would think that he would have been feeling bad enough and complaining enough that somebody should have tried to get to the bottom of this," Ralston said.

The AP sought opinions about Montoya's condition from other doctors who did not examine him but were familiar with his diseases. They agreed he probably displayed obvious signs of distress.

Montoya would have had a swollen abdomen because of his spleen. At the same time, he probably was losing weight rapidly because the large tumor would have left little room in his belly for food, according to Dr. Krishna Rao, an assistant professor of oncology at Southern Illinois University Medical School in Springfield.

Someone in Montoya's condition should have been taking heavy doses of chemotherapy for his cancer or receiving stem cell transplants, if he were healthy enough, said Dr. James Egner, an oncologist with the Carle Foundation Hospital in Champaign.

If the cancer was too advanced, Montoya should have at least been treated for pain with powerful drugs, possibly in a hospice, Egner said.

The president of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project said it isn't uncommon for medical records not to arrive with a federal inmate.

"Sometimes it arrives late, and sometimes it doesn't happen at all," said David Fathi, who has spent 15 years studying prison conditions. "That's why it's so critical that the new facilities do a medical screening" of new inmates.

Fahti said Montoya's death "is really an egregious failure, of the kind that you wouldn't expect from even a small county jail, let alone the largest prison system in the United States."

After his son's death, Juan Montoya wrote to the prison complaining about its medical care. Warden Richard Rios wrote back to defend his institution.

"I must respectfully disagree with your characterization of the medical care Adam received and want to assure you that we carefully monitored you son's medical condition," wrote Rios, who was not hired for the job until months after the death. He did not elaborate, writing that privacy laws limited what he could say.

The elder Montoya is now waiting for his son's medical records, but he doubts they will offer many clues. The family has hired lawyers but has not decided whether to file a lawsuit.

Montoya thinks a lot now about the assurances he offered his son as he headed for prison.

"Your time will go by fast, and you'll get out, and we'll get you a job and be part of the family," Montoya recalls telling his son. "It never happened."

Free Davon Acklin. Free William Macumber, too.

This took about ten minutes. Do it, please, every week from now until Davon is home.
And check out this fellow, William Macumber, too, and take a minute to sign his petition. We have to give the Governor reason to free all those folks the Board of Executive Clemency has already said should be free, or Davon doesn't have a chance. People signing these petitions and calling or writing her office (the phone lines were jammed today) will probably be more effective than me breaking out my chalk right now.

----------------------

Contact the Governor

http://azgovernor.gov/contact.asp

Topic: Free Davon Acklin. Please.

I'm sure you folks already know his story - Davon is a 23 year old state prisoner who needs treatment for Hep C, and since the ADC won't give it to him (probably because he has a serious mental illness, which raises ADA issues), his mother is seeking a pardon so she can bring him home; he's getting very ill.

Please get on Ryan at the ADC to give Davon the best medical care there is, and consider him seriously for a pardon as he makes his way through the process. I know that too many people seeking compassionate release died in prison despite the Board ruling in their favor because Governor Napolitano lacked the courage to let them go home. Davon's a good kid - please don't let him fall victim to the same kind of politics.

Thank you.

Margaret Jean Plews

Arizona Prison Watch

http://arizonaprisonwatch.blogspot.com

Hard Time Alliance - AZ

http://hardtimehepc.blogspot.com

(Friday, June 24, 3:50pm)

Thank you for filling out the Governor's Contact form. We appreciate your contacting the Governor's Office.
We will review your form submission and contact you if requested.

You are now being redirected to the Governor's home page
http://www.azgovernor.gov/

----Now help this guy out, too. From Change.org's blogs, comes this:-------

Demand Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Free An Innocent Man

by Elizabeth Renter

June 25, 2010 06:56 AM (PT)
641 Views

Thirty-five years is a long time. It's particularly long if you spend it in prison. However, 35 years is an eternity when you spend it locked up for a horrendous crime you didn't commit. Just ask William Macumber, who's been locked up for the last 35 years for a crime the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency says he never participated in.

That's what the Board told Arizona Governor Jan Brewer last year, in a letter recommending the state release Macumber from prison. And yet Governor Brewer rejected their recommendation without reason, leaving many to question Brewer's motives for keeping an innocent man behind bars.

William Macumber was convicted of a double murder in 1975. According to the testimony of his then-wife Carol, Macumber confessed to killing a couple in the desert 12 years earlier, a crime that had remained unsolved until that time. The Clemency Board found Carol's testimony to be unreliable, while Macumber's attorney and their own son have suggested that she actually used her position with an Arizona Sheriff's Department to fabricate some of the evidence used at the trial. As if that weren't enough, another man has actually confessed to the desert killing. Despite these facts, Macumber remains in prison — a 74-year-old man with heart problems and arthritis, a man who should be enjoying time with his grandchildren, not watching his days pass behind razor wire.

Why would Brewer keep Macumber behind bars? Some speculate that her reasons are linked to the fact that she's running for reelection this year, and needs all the help she can get. Brewer — who's built a national reputation, thanks to her support of Arizona's highly controversial anti-immigration law — appears to be playing it safe with this case, preferring to avoid any political risk involved in pardoning a man, such as seeming soft on crime.

It's extremely rare for a Clemency Board to make such a recommendation on a case as old as this and even more unusual for them to claim an inmates innocence. However, it's unheard of for a governor to basically ignore their request with no official reason.

Join us at Change in urging Governor Brewer to reconsider her position. Let her know that the nation is watching — and knows that she's preventing an innocent man from being freed.

Captives of an Industry of Pain: Terminally ill in California prisons.

If corrections officers in Arizona find some of this offensive, my apologies. I found many parallels in this editorial between Arizona and California, and felt some of her points were worth making. I am mindful that officers have it a little better in CALI prisons than here...but really, do they need two of you to guard a dying old woman already in shackles every time she goes to the hospital? And do we need to lock up young men for burglary and property crime who have since developed neurological disease and become quadraplegic?

I think these prisoners' judges and juries would have ordered something different from the hell they landed in, in most cases, if they knew the social, economic, and human costs of abandoning people to die in prison. Unless the court ordered death, life or its equivalent in years, they expected these prisoners to end up home one day...that should be honored, too - the right of judges to know the truth about their sentencing, and to re-do it when chronic or terminal illness strikes someone they locked away...

---------------------------

CA: Enforcing prisoner compassionate release law would save a billion...
Sacramento Prison Reform Examiner
Editorial - B. Cayenne Bird
June 19, 2009

Senator Mark Leno explained during Monday's online Senate Town Hall Meeting that the lawmakers can sometimes jump the 2/3 vote requirement hurdle and actually pass reform bills. However, due to a lack of oversight, it can take years for the changes in laws to be enforced. Then, Senator Steinberg described the financial consequences brought about as a result of harsh laws such as Three Strikes and Jessica's Law. These are but two laws foisted upon us by special interests via the initiative process which had no funding source, meaning that they are paid for from education, human services or some other existing program.

Implementation of Three Strikes and Jessica's Law and now Prop 9 are certainly not for free and have already driven up the cost of corrections from 5.4% to 11% in just seven years, which doubled the percentage of spending in the General Fund alone. Add to these costs the millions that will be required to bring California into compliance with the hysterical federal Adam Walsh Act and it is no surprise that this $10 billion expense is still growing. Senator Steinberg is correct when he points out that such extravagant laws have contributed greatly to our meltdown. Leno says that the cost of incarcerating a prisoner under 50 years old is $49,000, but the cost doubles after the age of 50 and triples after the age of 60, which means that many elderly prisoners cost upward of $150,000 a year. Leno says that 70% of this outlay is in employment costs alone.

Imagine, an entire industry built for the purpose of punishing sick people. I. for one, am ashamed and outraged that this is being done in my name,with my precious tax dollars. I am appalled that my legislature is in total gridlock due to the malicious will of the minority party who caused the prison overcrowding crisis and refuses to remedy it other than possibly agreeing to a miniscule 12% - 15% cut which will be decided this week. There should be at least a 50% cut to Corrections, a black hole of waste that is providing few valuable services and has devolved into more of a criminal college where nobody is coming out "corrected."

See this important, eye-opening webcast about the budget crisis here.

http://media.senate.ca.gov/townhall090615.

Around the 1 hour 20 minute mark (1:20), the two senators address one of the questions I submitted to them during the broadcast, but they don't really directly answer it. I asked, "When will prisoner releases begin and why haven't they already started considering there are about 80,000 non violent people incarcerated for minor technical parole violations?"

After all, the elderly and disabled have already received an 8.5% cut in income and had all their dental services eliminated, as if teeth aren't necessary to good health or frail people being able to chew their food. It is common sense that cuts to the poor, which make bad situations worse, almost always result in a rise in crime. But common sense doesn't rule governments, organized groups and the people they put into office make the decisions for everyone. The weakest voting groups are taking the most serious cuts. After all, the elderly and disabled aren't organized well enough to elect or recall a politician, so they can take away their food and utility money, cause them to go homeless, and there won't be much of a public outcry about such unwise public safety endangerment at all.

But any move that would interfere with the job security and a salary of a prison guard has yet to be implemented. This supremacy is because the guards' union, CCPOA, can elect or recall politicians and have already put many of the lawmakers into power to serve their wants and needs. The teachers and nurses are far bigger voting lobbies, but they aren't as agressive, or generous to the politicians, so the bullies rule the day with very little public outcry from those who should be out posting at the news sites voicing opposition.

Today's prison guards are paid more than university-level professors with years of education. About $40 million per month in overtime pay alone is being spent for guards to stand over sick prisoners who can't swat a fly off their noses. This is in addition to their regular pay to just sit or stand at the door for 24 hours a day on four shifts . Very little of these billions are actually going to benefit or heal the prisoners, which would be a wise thing to do since they are almost all going to be eventually released into our neighborhoods. The goal should be to return them better off instead of broken in mind, body and spirit but that is far from the reality of what is actually taking place.

This dysfunction that Senator Leno mentions of a years-long delay in actually enforcing changed policies, even when they would remedy crisis situations, has certainly been true in the case of AB 1539, This urgent bill was passed into law in 2007 for the compassionate release of terminally ill and permanently medically incapacitated prisoners. It took 15 years of painful struggle to get both parties to agree upon and a Governor to sign this desperately needed bill which would reduce prison overcrowding and medical costs. People died and are still dying cruel deaths in overcrowded prisons long past the time when they could be sent home to spend their final days with their families or to skilled nursing facilities which would cost far less than having them die in prison under costly heavy guard.

Additionally, our prisons are full of quadriplegics such as Steven Martinez (see his parent's side of the story and statement of his attorney at the links to the right of this article) and of terminally ill prisoners such as Mark Grangetto, whose torture case I have been writing about for years as it travels through the back-logged and corrupt courts. There are prisoners who cannot care for themselves dying from cancer, AIDS and every disease known to man. I have witnessed guards just standing there with their batons and pepper spray in readiness for the unlikely event that one of these dying, pathetic people might make any move at all. It's revolting and beyond ludicrous for our education and human services dollars to be wasted in this manner.

From $1-$2 billion of taxpayer dollars have been unnecessarily spent since 2007 alone to continue to punish people who meet the standards for a compassionate release or more technically, a recall of sentence. Arrogant attitudes, political posturing and unbearable incompetence by individuals in CDCr and the Board of Prison Terms, which lawyers say exceed their authority, are forcing taxpayers to pay an extravagant price for public safety services that we're not even getting. The bungling of physicians who couldn't get a job anywhere else actually caused permanent harm to many of the inmates, which is why more than 100 doctors were fired. The violence in the mismanaged prisons and the state's failure to protect the inmates in over-crowded environments have also resulted in many life-long disabilities. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent in lawsuit settlements which were preventable if only the state had been following and enforcing their own laws. Still, many of these problems continue today. Why?

Attorney General Jerry Brown fights the reforms and healing programs as well as defying court orders mandated by the three judge panel and almost never prosecutes those whose deliberate indifference resulted in a death or permanent disability. The careless double celling policy, continual lockdowns in cells the size of a small bathroom where they put two men 23 hours a day, one of whom might be severely mentally ill, has caused untold maiming and deaths to occur. Some of this carnage would be stopped if the new law AB1539 were being enforced because it would reduce the over-crowding and free up space for healthier inmates.

The lawmakers from both parties passed AB 1539 for good reasons, to remedy the present crisis, and yet two years later state employees still think that they have the jurisdiction to deny compassionate releases when it is now up to the judges. CDCr administrators are doing everything in their power to stop such releases for the purpose of maintaining the human bondage industry and no one is calling them on these unlawful practices.

Steven Martinez' mother, Norma, says that "the decision to deny a compassionate release to my paralyzed son was made by Suzane Hubbard. She says she was acting on behalf of Matthew Cate." The law clearly states that only a judge can make the final determination of whether or not an inmate should be released. Both Hubbard and Cate have no jurisdiction to deny release. Martinez fits the criteria of AB1539 by being totally unable to care for himself. Both state administrators are violating the law by making such a denial which is out of their purview. Even in the Martinez case, where it is so clearly evident with him being paralyzed, the administrators continue their unlawful arrogance and still ignore that AB 1539 was passed just to remedy such an expensive and inhumane situation. How can they sleep at night?

Martinez' father is a retired fireman and he comes from a solid, loving home. Even the victim in his case has joined his release campaign. Martinez has three small children who are being disallowed regular visits with their father, a cruel practice taking place in all the prison hospitals. These three children would benefit from having him in the home because he still has his voice and they love him. There are medical providers who will care for Martinez, saving the taxpayers the expense of upwards of a million dollars just for this one prisoner. The same is true in the Grangetto case, yet the state officials refuse to obey the law and many physicians are being threatened for making compassionate release recommendations.

Taxpayers should demand that every recall of sentence denied since 2007 is immediately reviewed and that the Director of the Department of Corrections and the Secretary of the Agency, Matthew Cate, be informed and held accountable for implementing the changes that this law brought into effect. AB 1539 is still being ignored at great fiscal and humanitarian expense for political reasons which all concerned, should find unacceptable.

The solution to these problems is not to build more prisons but to release those who shouldn't be there in the first place. We as taxpayers are being sold a "security service" which we can't afford and which provides no security. And we're paying for it with actual crime prevention dollars because that's why we have human services and education, to reduce crime. No matter how hard anyone tries, a sick person cannot be punished into being well. It is very clear that the purpose of prisons is to punish sick people. Where is the public outcry about laws not being followed by those we put into power?

Saving Davon Acklin: How to Help

Here's the official campaign strategy, folks. It should take 10-20 minutes of your time, tops.

------------------reprinted from hopeworkscommunity------------------------

On Helping Davon Acklin

Many of you read the original post on Davon Acklin. If you would like to help him there are several things you can do.

1. Let as many people know about his case if possible. If you are from Arizona or know people in Arizona in particular let them know.
2. Contact the governor directly and ask that he be considered for compassionate release. There is no reason or nothing to be gained by him staying in prison. In your contact explain the facts as you know them. Her phone number is 1-(800) 253-0883. It will only take a couple of minutes. Also email the governors office. The website is http://azgovernor.gov/. Just follow directions on the site to make the email. And then and this is so important- do it again next week. And again the week after that. Persistence pays. It will only take a few minutes.
3. Contact at least 5 other people about Davon. Tell them about the case. Tell them what you are doing to help and ask them to do the same thing. Ask each of them to also contact 5 other people and ask each of those 5 to do the same thing. If we do this and carry through soon the Governors office will be receiving thousands of contacts asking for Davon’s release. It makes a difference.
4. If you live in Arizona write a letter to the editor of your paper about Davon. If you are outside the state write one to a paper in one of the major cities like Tuscon.
5. The contact information on Davon is in the previous post (see below). Contact him directly and let him know you care. This might be the most important thing.
6. There is a cause on Facebook called Free Davon Acklin (http://www.causes.com/causes/498647?). If you are on Facebook please join. Be part of a unified and committed effort to help Davon.

Please act now. What you do as an individual makes a difference.

The politics of compassion, death, and prison: TX to AZ

Kudos to this reporter for caring about this story. We have some compassionate release hang-ups in Arizona that need some journalistic help, too...maybe there's even a student out there who would want to make it an investigative journalism or research project? Let us know. Time is running out for Davon and his fellow prisoners; even he suggests that there are men far more ill than him who need to be going home before they die. Terminal illness was not included in their sentencing; perhaps sentencing judges should be reviewing such things when people apply for compassionate release.

So, keep hounding the governor - we need to let these folks find decent treatment in order to survive their sentences, or release them so they can die at home. Let her know that more than just a few of us care about this - she doesn't strike me much as the "compassionate" type, after all this with SB 1070.

But if she's really into helping the people of Arizona, then this is one small way she can make a huge difference in the lives of folks who have otherwise been disposed of and forgotten by all but their families - if they even still have connections with them, then the suffering generated by denying medical releases to terminally or chronically, severely ill prisoners is exponentially magnified. Everyone, including the state and our communities, hurts from our inability to embrace our own humanity, and find within ourselves the qualities of Mercy and Grace.

And the effects of the ease with which we detach from the pain of our fellow beings trickle down to the next generation...it is not a kind thing to bestow on them, or much of a gift to leave the world: a callous heart.

And it's all politics. Challenge Brewer to have the courage to step up to this issue and do it right. Word is that too many people since Janet have been approved by the Board of Executive Clemency only to die while sitting on the Governor's desk. Is this governor any less a coward than Napolitano was? I hope so.

- Peg

----------------------

Few Texas Inmates Get Released on Medical Parole
by Emily Ramshaw
Texas Tribune
June 3, 2010

A gaunt old man, thick with whiskers and stricken with dementia, writhes under the covers of his bed. Down the hall, doctors monitor elderly diabetics with recently amputated limbs, medicate terminal cancer patients shuffling by with walkers and tether shivering dialysis patients to blood-cleaning machines.

Despite the pacing guards, the handcuffs and the bars on the windows, the geriatric and medical wing at the Estelle Unit in Huntsville looks more like a nursing home than a maximum-security prison.

Prison doctors routinely offer up the oldest and sickest of these inmates for medical parole, a way to get those who are too incapacitated to be a public threat and have just months to live out of medical beds that Texas’ quickly aging prison population needs. They’ve recommended parole for 4,000 such inmates within the last decade. But the state parole board, which makes the final decision on “medically recommended intensive supervision,” has only agreed in a quarter of these cases, leaving the others to die in prison — and on the state’s dime.

Texas’ “geriatric” inmates, classified as those 55 and older, make up just 7.3 percent of Texas’ 160,000-offender prison population. But they account for nearly a third of the system’s hospital costs and make three times as many visits to prison medical departments as younger inmates. Elderly inmates have average annual hospitalization costs of $4,700, compared to $765 for inmates under 55. In total, providing inmate medical care costs the state correctional health care system — already facing hundreds of employee layoffs amid a budget shortfall — nearly half a billion dollars a year.

Parole board members say they’re faced with the difficult task of determining whether an inmate is still dangerous and must err on the side of public safety. “You can be sick, have an illness or a disease, and still be a threat,” said board chair Rissie Owens. “Our decisions aren’t based on numbers, on quotas. And we feel like we’re making good decisions.”

But criminal justice and prison funding experts say leaving elderly, terminally ill inmates to waste away behind bars is often unnecessary and exorbitantly expensive. Those costs would be shared with the federal government if the offenders weren’t in state custody.

“These are totally incapacitated inmates, terminally ill inmates, inmates on respirators, who are not paroled at a huge expense to the state and hardship to the inmate’s family because of the nature of a crime they may have committed 20 or 30 years ago,” said Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who chairs the state Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee. “I think it’s largely for political reasons.”

The cost of care

While the total prison population in Texas isn’t growing, it’s quickly aging. The ranks of geriatric inmates are rising by about 6 percent every year, frightening the budget writers who have to figure out how to pay for them. Health care costs are rising too: The average daily medical bill for Texas inmates grows about 4 percent every year — which is low, compared to some states.

The sickest inmates can each cost the state up to $1 million a year in health care costs. If these same inmates were living in nursing homes or hospice facilities, the federal government — through Medicaid — would pay two-thirds of the cost and save Texas taxpayers up to $50 million a year, according to state projections. If the offenders are eligible for Medicare, the feds would pick up the full tab. “We could be transitioning them to some other facility where state taxpayers wouldn’t have to bear the full health care cost,” said Marc Levin, the director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center For Effective Justice Director, who suggested special nursing homes or hospice centers monitored by parole officers. “It’s a real opportunity to identify some savings without doing anything to endanger public safety.”

But despite the fact that the national one-year recidivism rate for older offenders is miniscule compared to that of younger offenders — 3.2 percent for inmates over 55, compared to 45 percent for inmates between 18 and 29 — an April report by the VERA Institute of Justice, a nonprofit criminal justice policy group, found that the 15 states that allow medical release rarely use it. What stands in the way? Political repercussions, complicated review processes and limited eligibility, the researchers found.

Getting Texas inmates released on medical parole is no easy task. To be eligible for it, an offender can’t be on death row or be serving life without parole, and must be either terminally ill (six months or less to live) or require intensive long-term care, said Dee Wilson, director of the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments. Sex offenders must effectively be in a vegetative state for consideration.

If inmates qualify, the office, in conjunction with the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee, recommends them for medical parole, then submits them to the seven-member Board of Pardons and Paroles for a decision. “It’s all about how long you have to live, and what your prognosis is,” Wilson said. “You can have a terminal illness but still be fully functioning.”

Dying behind bars

The parole board, in turn, relies on a pre-existing condition threshold of sorts. If an inmate with a particular illness commits a crime, Owens said, it’s unlikely he or she will get medical release for that same diagnosis. Some inmates with multiple amputated limbs may look incapacitated, Owens said, but managed to commit their crimes that way. Of the roughly 4,000 inmates prison health officials recommended for medical release in the last decade, the parole board turned down nearly 3,000.

In the last fiscal year alone, more than 440 Texas inmates died in prison. Thirty-one inmates who’d been recommended by medical staff for release died while awaiting the parole board to take up their case; another 26 died after the parole board rejected them for release. Twelve inmates were approved for medical parole but died before they could be sent home.

“There are documented cases where individuals had days or weeks left to live” and were rejected for medical parole, Whitmire said. “I saw no reason why they shouldn’t be paroled so the family could make plans for their funeral.”

Texas is not the only state struggling with skyrocketing prison health care costs and concerns around medical release. Between 1999 and 2007, the number of inmates 55 or older in state and federal prisons grew by more than 75 percent, to 76,000. To date, more than a dozen states have units set aside for elderly inmates; eight have dedicated hospice facilities. Estelle has an impressive medical facility, with a bustling emergency room, high-tech telemedicine equipment and a team of nephrologists that perform 1,800 dialysis treatments a month — sometimes on aggressive or unstable inmates.

“From a medical perspective, I’m comforted that [offenders are] getting a level of care they may not be getting on the street. On the other hand, we’re about to un-employ 363 people,” said Dr. Owen Murray, the chief physician for the University of Texas Medical Branch’s correctional managed care program, which oversees health care for the majority of Texas’ prisoners — and is facing layoffs this summer. “Are there other strategies to reduce our costs? And how do we prevent having to build more expensive units in the future?”

Charles Dill, a 71-year-old offender who started a 20-year sentence in 2000, has been hospitalized multiple times himself for costly heart problems, including getting stents for his carotid arteries. He’s befriended several elderly inmates in Estelle’s geriatric unit, only to watch them die on the ward.

“I’ve seen several of these guys drop over dead,” Dill said, gesturing across a prison dorm room of prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs, adult incontinence products and white-haired men in Coke-bottle glasses. “I guess they completed their sentence.”

Free Davon Acklin.

Davon's in a no-win situation: this can't be the way we all intended for things to work out for kids like him - first prison, now Hep C. He's pretty ill, too; Julie's been getting the run-around from some of the folks at the ADC, but she has his medical records now and knows better what she's dealing with. Davon's getting sicker, fast, and there's no more time to mess around with these people.

Anyway, I'm posting the Hopeworks Community write-up on Davon because I'm so close to him that I've been having a hard time blogging about him; this really breaks my heart. But he's easy to write to (here are the ADC mail policies), and he usually draws something awesome on his letters and envelopes for me. So, as the author of this post suggests, drop him a line.

I don't think Julie or Davon would mind me saying that he can always use a few bucks, too, for medical co-pays, stamps, and food/vitamins if you can spare it - the ADC doesn't exactly have healthy menus (they just replaced tomatoes with pickles as an equivalent). Even cancer patients have to worry about paying for their own nutritional supplements in Arizona's prison; "special diets" that actually have any improved nutritional value are considered "special" to prisoners mainly because they're so hard to get. Everything "extra" (like health care) has to be paid for, and if you're poor - as in the "real world" - you're SOL.

Here's Davon's story. Writing a note or sending a postcard to him will be time well-spent. If you send a money order or certified check, make it out to the "Arizona Department of Corrections for Davon Acklin (223880)", then tuck it in the envelope. No need to be extravagant - $10 is a lot of money when you have none. It will be deeply appreciated.

Drop Governor Brewer's office a line in the meantime, too, letting her know you want to see this kid treated or home ASAP. Follow emails up with snail mail on your letterhead. You guys work on her for now; we'll work on the Board of Executive Clemency and the ADC. If we need help with them, as well, we'll let you know.

----------------------from Hopeworks Community------------------

Free Davon Acklin

By hopeworkscommunity

Davon Acklin didn't just fall between the cracks. He lives there.

He is 23 years old and an inmate of the Arizona prison system. Like many people with severe mental illness he found out that a system which offers inadequate or no services at all to people with serious emotional problems leaves many of them in prison and too many of them in a hell which ultimately destroys their chances for recovery and any kind of life worth having.

He may be dying. He has hepatitis C courtesy of the prison environment he lives in. His liver has been affected and without serious medical attention his chances of making it much longer are virtually nil. He has 10 months left to release. His mother has appealed to the authorities to give him compassionate release. She only wants to be with her son and if he must die she doesn't want it to be in a hell hole with people who look upon him as only a number and less than a person. She wants him home. She just wants him home.

He was convicted originally of assault with a deadly weapon. He was psychotic, had stolen a battery. Two security guards ran after him. In a panic he brandished a box cutter at them. His first year was spent in solitary confinement in a Super Max prison. He found out that his punishment for being sick, being scared, and being psychotic was to have a planned, brutal attack on the tattered shreds of his sanity. Imagine what one year in solitary confinement would be for you. Now imagine if you were already emotionally ill.

There is some treatment available in the prison, but the state of Arizona has a protocol to decide who should get it are not. Davon doesn't meet the criteria.

He “committed” a crime, but he is not a criminal. His family was trying to find placement for him before anything happened. His illness struck first.

His mother tells me he has given up. He sees himself as being alone and powerless against a system which seems determined to get its pound of flesh. But you can help.

Take a few minutes out of your day and write him. Let him know you care. Let him know he is not alone. His contact information is ….

Davon Acklin (223880)

ASPC-Tucson/ Manzanita

PO Box 24401

Tuscon, AZ 87345.

It will be the best few minutes you spend tomorrow. Please act.

Please spread the word and tell others. Share this post with as many people as you can. This is a horrible injustice. Mental illness should not be a capital crime. There are many, too many Davon’s. Please stand for him.

In the next couple of days I will have additional posts telling about other concrete things you can do. Please spread the word…. And please, please, please HELP FREE DAVON ACKLIN!!!!!

Called to Care: Hospice of the Valley.

Hey all,

Called to Care is one of the main ministries addressing the needs of people with disabilities that has been supporting the efforts of the Hard Time Alliance, which is organizing Arizona's Hepatitis C + prisoners/ex-prisoners and their families. They had us give a little presentation at their coordinating meeting a month ago (where they had an awesome main speaker), and were on hand for the Candlelight Vigil last month at the ADC. Robert's also been a real support to my friend and comrade, Julie, who's trying to get either treatment for her son in prison or a pardon / compassionate release so he can get care in the community before the disease progresses further.

Anyway, I don't think these folks would mind if a few of us crashed this meeting in order to address concerns about the terminally ill in prison: is there even hospice space available to release dying prisoners to? Do hospice workers go into Arizona's prisons or jails? Does Hospice of the Valley deal at all with the prisons (like training other prisoners to be end-of-life caregivers, for example)? Are they a resource for the families of elderly and terminally ill prisoners?

I'm sure the rest of you can think of more questions to ask. Do just that - ask questions that concern these issues - wherever you go. In fact, if you can, make a point of going to things like this specifically to engage the rest of the community in a relationship with people dying behind bars: we have to do something about the hang-up on compassionate release (word is, there have been none/few signed by the governor since the Baseline Killer - that means Janet let a lot of sick people die in there who the ADC found eligible and the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency recommended for release).

So, if you have a chance to talk with someone from the American Cancer Society or other patient education/support/advocacy groups, please speak to the issues of compassionate release and hospice care for dying prisoners. If they hear it from several sources, maybe they'll jump in and help.

Thanks again, Robert, for your kindness and solidarity.

------------------from Called to Care---------------------

Dear Friends:

This is a reminder for the Called to Care Coordinating Council meeting, Sunday, June 27, 2010, 12 noon, Anthony Lounge, First Congregational United Church of Christ,1407 N. 2nd Street, Phoenix, potluck, carry-in meal. All are welcome. Sue Bartz, First Church member and Hospice of the valley Patient Insurance Department Coordinator, organized this speaker meeting. She invited Heather Chapple, Community Liaison, Hospice of the Valley, to speak on "The Hospice of the Valley's Senior Placement Service" that helps families find appropriate care for their loved ones at no cost to the family. Check attachment for details. For more information, contact Robert Koth by telephone at: 602-284-4159 or by email at: RobertKoth1@cox.net.

Our speaker, Heather Chapple, is a long-time Valley resident, moving to Arizona from Colorado in 1988, Heather served in the U.S. Navy for four years as an executive assistant at a submarine base in San Diego. She joined Hospice of the Valley in July 2009. She works as a community liaison, giving educational presentations about end-of-life care. Heather graduated from the University of Phoenix in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in education. I hope that you can join us to hear this exceptional speaker.

Blessings,

Robert Koth

The Quality of Mercy: Compassionate Release in America

National Prison Hospice Association

Medical Parole: Politics vs. Compassion

By Nina Quinn

Dostoevsky reminds us that society can be measured by how it treats its prisoners. And part of that measure must surely be the degree of compassion we show toward the dying. Yet compassionate release, or medical parole, is an under-used and too rarely granted option for terminally ill inmates in our U.S. prisons. 




While some form of medical parole legislation is in place in federal and state jurisdictions, it is often overly restrictive, narrowly interpreted, and muddied by political interests. Unfortunately, a lack of political will affects bureaucratic will and ultimately the number of dying released from prison.

Barry Holman of the National Center for Institutions and Alternatives sardonically states, "There is not much of a constituency for criminals in the United States." With overtones of Dostoevsky, he adds, "There is a lack of political and bureaucratic will to see dying in prison as a negative marker for what a prison system should be and society as a whole,"

Jack Beck; who has done a careful study of medical parole in New York State reports that not only are few people getting out, there is a downward trend. Both applications and releases are dropping. In 2000, out of 170 New York state prison deaths – most from medical reasons – 81 applied for compassionate release and only 12 were granted.

In New York, the current administration is against parole generally and this spills over to medical parole. This negative influence in not confined to New York. California and other states are facing the same antagonism and similar low release numbers.

Apart from negative political influence, there are other related obstacles. The eligibility criteria can be overly restrictive eliminating, people who are clearly terminally ill. The process can be convoluted and delayed resulting in many inmates dying in prison before their review is completed. In New York, the 2000 statistics show more than twice as many inmates died during the review process than were granted release.

When these three barriers of politics, criteria and process come together they virtually guarantee a fourth: lack of incentive to initiate applications.

While there can be various factors contributing to this, Beck points to a common theme of frustration and futility. The paper burden on the medical providers can be both excessive and judged a waste of medical time when so few are granted parole. Similarly, many prison staff with compassion for the dying, do not want to raise the inmates hopes and put them through the stress of a long waiting period only to have them die in the process or be refused.

Also, the establishing of Regional Medical Units (RMUs) and hospice programs make for a simpler alternative – transfer the inmate. The RMUs run on a fixed DOC's budget and there is incentive to keep the beds full. Plus it is quicker, less complicated, and does not require the additional work involved in a discharge plan.

Another obstacle Beck articulates is the failure to educate the staff and inmates about the program and the process. This is particularly important in states like New York where correctional staff can initiate but the prime responsibility is placed on the inmate. Beck notes that there are prisons and infirmaries within the state that do not, for whatever reasons; file any applications for their terminally ill inmates.

Other than holding our politicians to a higher standard, what else is required for effective compassionate release policy?

A first requirement is clear legislation that is free from murky political bias, compromise, and overly restrictive criteria. A clearly defined medical prognosis is required. One that includes all terminally ill inmates. It should be clear and factual enough that inmates and their doctors know if they meet the criteria. And it should be fair. 

In New York, where an incapacitation standard is used, some terminally ill are excluded because they can walk-they may die tomorrow but they are excluded because of the legislative restriction on self-ambulation.

Rather than an incapacitation model where the prime emphasis is on risk, Beck makes the case for a terminal illness diagnosis with a one-year life expectancy. Studies show that when a six months diagnosis is used, the median length of stay in hospice is roughly 30 days. One year would increase the possibility of the review process being completed before the applicant dies. Also, it would allow time for the patient to adjust and relate to his family or new surroundings.

Another requirement is that there be a clear separation between the medical prognosis and the assessment of risk upon, release. Medical staff should not be asked to assess risk but solely address the medical status and prognosis of the inmate. Risk assessment is the pervue of the criminal justice system.

It is at this stage that the process generally gets cumbersome and protracted. So many arms and voices within the criminal justice system are included that the inmate may be dead before a decision is reached. The political temptation to spread the risk and decision-making as broadly as possible needs to be reined in and the process streamlined. Maryland has a process that appears to run smoothly. What makes it particularly efficient is not only that they have kept steps to the necessary minimum, they have also mandated short timelines at each stage of the process. Any inmate applying for compassionate release knows that he or she will receive a decision no later than 30 days from the start of the process. In urgent cases, decisions have been made as quickly as one day.

Maryland also meets another requirement by mandating discharge planning as soon as the inmate is given a terminal diagnosis. This ensures that when the decision is made, everything is in place for the inmate's release.

Communication is also important. The system could benefit from staff being well educated on all aspects of the process and this information should be made available to inmates and their families, including language translation when necessary.

Finally, a key and critical requirement, is that when a doctor makes a terminal diagnosis a mandatory application for release is submitted and the process is started including discharge planning. This standardized application should be as simple and straightforward as possible.

http://www.npha.org/articles/Quinn7-1.html

accessed january 29, 2010