Lawsuits: AL jailers let prisoners die from easily treatable illnesses to save money

[Galraedia]

Source: Raw Story

Three lawsuits recently filed in federal court accuse the state of Alabama of denying prisoners with easily treatable illnesses or injuries proper medical care resulting in the prisoner’s death.

According to AL.com, the lawsuits have been filed over the deaths of three inmates, including a 19-year-old who died naked on a cell floor from gangrene.

The three suits allege the jailers in Madison County withhold the basic medical care in order to save money, believing that the insurance carried by the out-sourced medical contractor will cover any lawsuits filed against them.

One of the lawsuits alleges that Deundrez Woods, a 19-year-old from Huntsville, died in jail in August as the result of a gangrenous wound in his foot that was left untreated.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/lawsuits-al-jailers-let-prisoners-die-from-easily-treatable-illnesses-to-save-money/

[Mojorabbit]

1. I just don't understand what kind of person

lets a child die untreated like this? They must be broken inside.

[vlyons]

18. A sociopath. That's who

Sounds like a case of negligent homicide to me. Of course, with RWers in power in AL, don't hold your breath waiting for anyone to file charges against the warden, or whoever heads the Criminal justice system in that state. Don't know if the Feds have jurisdiction to file any criminal charges.

But definitely this is negligent homicide.

[archaic56]

38. hasn't changed

MY own grandfather, half Cherokee had to hide his race to keep from being ,lynched. I hated Alabama when I grew up there and I hate it now.. Rednecks bigots and ignorant stupid people who don't realize we all are one. NO hope for this world NOT One bit.. of course it was homicide and to be expected ..watch, they'll bring back lynching next.. I have no faith in humankind..prayers for the families

[tclambert]

33. Highly moral people, if you base all morality on making profit, like the business schools teach.

All the ethics and morals and philosophy they discuss on the humanities side of campus doesn't count over on the business school campus, where measurable figures in dollars trump all other concerns.

[msongs]

2. privatized prisons will not like letting cash generating prisoners die nt

[Jackpine Radical]

6. The cheapest solution for the private prisons

would be to let their inmates die, dispose of the bodies discreetly, & keep on charging the state for housing them.

Kinda gives "being in the Hole" a whole new meaning.

[KingCharlemagne]

25. That is truly dark, man, truly dark. - nt

[tclambert]

34. Kind of what Thomas Murton found at Cummins State Prison Farm in Arkansas,

though they apparently listed their mysterious dead inmates as escapees, or reported they had died of natural causes. Cummins and Tucker were reportedly very profitable prison farms, while many prisoners went malnourished. They say the movie "Brubaker" was based partly on these prisons.

[kestrel91316]

3. And the crowd screamed, "Let him die! Let him die!"

I forget where that was, some TV show about somebody sick who couldn't get medical insurance?

[SunSeeker]

5. Yup. I remember. Republican primary debate, 2011.

[kestrel91316]

26. That's it. They want us all dead. By us, I mean anyone who

isn't white, wealthy, and of the correct religious persuasion (Christian Reconstructionist).

[6000eliot]

27. Not dead. On our knees and subservient to their interests.

[Chakab]

4. Behold the "free market" in all of its glory.

[Kalidurga]

7. Criminal charges

If this was a nursing home instead of a prison criminal charges would happen. Neglect being the least of these. The crimes are premeditated so that should bring harsher charges and sentences.

[Live and Learn]

29. +1 If this happened anywhere else, including a private home,

people would be facing charges.

[Omaha Steve]

8. Inmates Dying After Governor Rick Scott Outsources Prison Health Care

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025681754

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. outsourcing removes accountability, among other things.

One of the many ways it is bad.

[PatrickforO]

9. SLIME!

That's what these people are. Prisons should never, ever, ever be for profit, because there is simply too much conflict of interest.

What bothers me is that apparently these horrible, disgusting human beings are STILL free and no charges are being levied against them for gross negligence, negligent homicide, and violation of the victims' civil rights. Not only should these foul excuses for public servants be jailed but this county should have to pay and pay and pay and pay punitive damages. They should have to pay SO much in punitive damages that no other county will EVER allow that to happen.

In addition, the corporate owned media should report on this with single minded intensity so everyone can see what a farce private prisons actually are, and maybe a national dialog could begin around getting rid of private prisons FOR GOOD.

[StevePaulson]

20. Give The Families 1 Billion Apiece

That should fix the problem.

[closeupready]

36. +1,000,000,000.

[KrazyinKS]

10. I don't get how people could ignore such things-

What goes through their head? Do they think these people are another species, like dogs or squirrels that lie dead in the streets, not like them who belong to a superior race just like the Bible says?

[Tommymac]

12. Guards and inmates mostly come from the same class. It's just one was lucky enough to be born white

[Ed Suspicious]

22. Someone here at du said it. You'll find authoritarians kicking down and kissing up.

[Solly Mack]

11. K&R

How do you just sit back and allow someone to suffer and die when you can do something to prevent it?

Sick.

[Tommymac]

13. I ask the same question when I see average people vote for Republicans. eom

[Solly Mack]

14. Makes sense.

You vote for people who will make harmful policy you own all the bad those policies bring.

[Tommymac]

24. Exactly. eom

[Heather MC]

15. i had a cousin die from liver disease. the prison dropped him at home like he was a stray dog

His whole body was swolen with fluid, he died two days later. Had they gotten him to the hospital when the problem started he would have lived.

[blkmusclmachine]

16. Can Corporations Be Sociopaths? And is this the New Fascism?

[Live and Learn]

30. I think Corporations are Sociopaths by definition. nt

[alfredo]

35. They reflect the moral failings of the top officers.

[littlewolf]

19. if this is Jail - the county sheriff is responsible. nt

[jwirr]

23. Alabama in the heart of the Bible Belt. My ass.

[area51]

28. How horrific.

It's what you would expect to happen in a third-world country. But we are a country with citizens without a right to health care.

[Live and Learn]

31. Torture appears to be all the rage these days in the US.

While we might find this unconscionable, the masses have chosen to ignore the plight of prisoners (with some actively defending).

[freshwest]

32. (expletives deleted)

[dembotoz]

37. dogs get better care at the pound

[libodem]

39. Kick