There are probably some people who think that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour’s release of the Scott Sisters was both routine and out of compassion. It was neither.
Barbour’s decision to release Jamie and Gladys Scott after serving 16 years of prison for a petty crime (both sisters have always proclaimed their innocence) was one of political expediency due to international pressure. Upon their release earlier this year, Gladys was ordered to give one of her kidneys to her older sister Jamie suffering from kidney failure.
Both sisters are under five feet tall and grossly overweight. They will have to lose considerable pounds before the life-saving procedure can be done; Gladys will also have to stop smoking. Still, even with these challenges, it appears that there could be a happy ending to their stories.
Such sensibilities on the part of governors and officials within departments of corrections are a rarity. More common is the lack of adequate medical treatment and, in far too many cases, medical treatment is denied. After all, prisoners give up their rights when they commit the crime that sends them to prison in the first place. To add salt to the wound (literally), prisons may outsource the medical care to private companies like Correctional Medical Services whose main goal is making a profit.
Except for the families with loved ones needing medical care and human rights organizations who advocate for such, the general public is unaware prison conditions. Being a part of prison rights advocacy groups, I am well aware that medication and medical treatment are used both as reward and punishment. It depends on the who, the what and the when.
At any given time, there is a case struggling to get the publicity needed in order for the prisoner to receive the precise medical response that he or she needs. Recently, I received a request to sign a petition for Cheryl Wright serving life without parole for the alleged murder of her ex-husband. Wright says didn’t do and no physical evidence or witnesses tied her to the crime. Wright has been diagnosed with terminal fourth stage breast cancer and is trying to spend her last days with family. It’s probably not going to happen.
At Cameron Correction Center here in Missouri , a similar situation is playing out, although the story is much more inhumane. Rodnie Stewart is not his real name but the name that he used when cashing bad checks. Prison authorities insisted that he use that fictitious name when his name is Andy Hendre. Andy got another bad break when he got a murder rap while serving time for the bad checks. It was down hill from there.
When Andy repeatedly complained of chest pains, he was given aspirin until internal bleeding forced the prison to take him to the hospital. When tests were done, it was discovered that he had lung cancer. Andy was given three months to live and his sister begged that he spend his last days in her care. It’s probably not going to happen.
I think most fair-minded citizens would find it unconscionable that bureaucratic barriers prohibit these folks from dying in the midst of their loved ones. They are no longer a danger to society or themselves-if they ever were – and it is the humane thing to do.
These kinds of barbaric rules and policies must be changed. Now that you know it’s the reality of many families, you can help change it. It may be too late for Andy and Cheryl but it is never too late to add a human dimension to the U.S. prison-industrial complex.
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