On July 13, 2007 Nancy Jean Calder was found dead in her cell at Muncy State Correctional Institution. The PA DOC Monitor has received reports that Calder requested mental health treatment prior to her death, stating that she was hearing voices. Despite her needs, and established history of mental illness, Calder was denied adequate treatment by prison staff. Perhaps that as because, as one article states :
In prison, [prisoners'] deeds are punished, but mental health rehabilitation is minimal at best. When [prisoners] get out or are eligible for parole, offenders with these crimes on their records find it very difficult to get supported housing or residential mental health treatment.
Which inevitably leads mentally ill inmates back to prison, where their health needs are further ignored. In the case of Nancy Jean Calder, the judge who sentenced her to 2 ½ to 6 years did not seem to consider her history of mental illness, only her act of arson – which she committed upon her own property. Since the judge simplified her case to mere arson, she was sent to a state prison that houses violent female offenders instead of a hospital.
Sadly, Calder's daughter, Amanda, believes her mother's suicide was not intentional, but a cry for help . Amanda notes that her mother requested books, complaining that “there's nothing to read here [at Muncy].”
This incident has made it even clearer that state correctional institutions are not concerned the slightest with rehabilitation or education. They are not concerned with education, because while prison libraries may contain useful books, access to them is made nearly impossible. And they are not concerned with the mentally ill, because prisoners are denied treatment.
Unfortunately Calder's story is not unique. Another inmate with a history of mental illness describes being,
. . . shot with a riot gun and held in a cell for three to four months with nothing but one pair of underwear. He described being strapped down for 48 hours with a 10-to-15-minute break.
Stripping a mentally ill man of his dignity, as described above, is not a form of rehabilitation. When the inmate above was asked what he will do after release he stated he had no where to go, and will most likely wander the street to “get drunk and find a girl.”
Is this the best that the PA DOC can do? The PA DOC Monitor believes that more can be done. Visit our prisoner outreach page for more information.
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Sat, 10/03/2009 - 02:22
Texas state prison convicts could soon see their trust funds — more than $33 million overseen by the state — getting tapped to pay overdue court costs and related expenses. A recent Texas Supreme Court decision allows prison officials to withdraw funds from the inmate trust accounts without first notifying a convict. sas dumps Before that, officials said, convicts had to be alerted in advance so they could challenge the garnishment — and many did.
"This changes everything — and allows the counties to go in and collect back court fees and costs up front, and the inmate will have to challenge that after the fact," said Huntsville lawyer Bill Habern, who is familiar with the case. "That will be difficult." redhat dumps In addition, he said, the debits will likely come as a surprise, because many convicts are not notified of their court costs until after they are in a prison cell, if then.
"Considering the economic situation, we expect the counties to start fleecing trust fund accounts," said Helga Dill, a Dallas-based prison rights activist. "Our concern is that the inmate is deprived of funds sent by family members who are in most cases poor. ... If an inmate can waive child support until he is released and has employment, then that should be possible with court costs as well." rhce dumps Lest convicts worry that they could now wake up to find their trust funds emptied to pay old court costs, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said state law limits how much money in those accounts can be taken: only 20 percent of the initial deposit into a trust fund, and 10 percent of any subsequent deposit.
In all, prison officials said the inmate trust accounts contain more than $33.6 million — including about $17.6 million in cash and another $16 million that is invested in Treasury bills.
Fri, 03/05/2010 - 00:31
The prisoners are not being taken before any committee in order to defend themselves or to present their views and, 70-649 dumps no notice of classification is given prior to its being implemented upon a prisoner. These are due process violations.