Abuse of Elderly and Sick in Prison A Major Issue in Bureau of Prisons
By Derek Gilna
We all read
about the “cushy” and “country club” federal prisons growing up, where doing
time was easy and worry-free. The next
thing we heard about was the
“fantastic” medical care that federal prisoners receive from
a benevolent federal government. All of
this was very clever public relations to provide political cover for the “War
on Drugs” for the past decades. The
media has now begun to expose these lies.
I wrote
about George Will last week, who shone a bright spotlight on a “political
system that takes bizarre delight in creating new crimes for enforcement,” and
stated that “American government is increasingly characterized by an ugly and
sometimes lethal irresponsibility.”
Nowhere is
that irresponsibility more on display than in the prison “medical system.” Allow me to quote an email from a female
prisoner at the Carswell, Texas BOP
“medical center.” There, one prisoner
wrote, “There have been so many deaths and hardly any releases for
compassionate release cause of illness…such as terminal cancer… (prisoners)
usually die before anything gives and never make it home.” “This,” she said, “is what our government
does to families- destroys children’s lives by taking their parents away from
them…”
Even one
convicted of wrongdoing does not deserve to die in prison. Medical science has advanced to the point
where more terminal illnesses can be diagnosed in enough time that a
compassionate release system could easily release an incapacitated prisoner to
his family prior to his passing. The Bureau of Prisons needs to properly
implement the policies that already exist to speed up this process. Not only
would they be showing actual concern for the welfare of their prisoners, but
they would also save millions of dollars that could be devoted to providing
vocational training to reduce recidivism.
Compassionate release is a difficult process
to carry out on your own, but you are not alone. I’ve done them, successfully. Can I do one for you or one of your friends
in the institution that is hurting and deserves mercy? What about the ones who have already been
injured by medical negligence or neglect?
It would be my privilege to assist you.
Derek Gilna
113 McHenry #173
(847) 878-0160
