Criminal Procedure (continued)

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


To be sure, California and Washington are not the only states facing charges of medical abuse, neglect, or indifference. A recently released Amnesty International report, “Not Part of My Sentence: Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody,” has highlighted medical maltreatment in Florida, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., among other states.

Women, who now constitute 6.4 percent of the prison population in the United States, often arrive in prison with serious health problems. The 10- and 20-year sentences eventually become death sentences for some of these women when serious and inadequately treated illnesses become terminal.

In California, a compassionate release policy designed for inmates dying in prison was signed into law in October of 1997. But since the law became effective in January 1998, the numbers of compassionate releases have actually decreased. According to CDC spokeswoman Thornton, eight releases were granted in 1995, while just one was granted in 1998. So far, one release has been granted this year, under what Cynthia Chandler of the Women’s Positive Legal Action Network considers disturbing circumstances.

Tina Balagno, an HIV-positive prisoner with a history of drug addiction, started complaining of severe leg pain when she was admitted to CCWF in June 1998, and shortly thereafter discovered lumps in one of her breasts. While her leg pains were not addressed, a malignancy was found in her breast, and her family urged immediate treatment. In November, Balagno was admitted to surgery for what she thought would be a lumpectomy, only to wake up to realize her breast had been removed. According to Chandler, Balagno received no chemotherapy or radiation treatment and got only Motrin for her pain. Falling into a coma after suffering two seizures in January, Balagno was diagnosed with metastasized bone cancer, and was released to her family just one week before her death. She was 40.

Greenspan, one of the co-authors of the compassionate release legislation, finds the current overall lack of compassion toward severely ill prisoners disheartening. “The problem is that the political climate is so antiprisoner, and prisoners have been so demonized, that they are not even getting out [on compassionate release],” she says. “The system’s refusal to release dying prisoners is both inhumane and unconscionable.”


previous

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate