There are numerous examples of the inhumane and corrupt nature of the prison industrial complex. Over two million citizens languish behind bars. Most of them are non-violent offenders who experience little or no rehabilitation during their stay. Reforms may seem challenging for this institution, but they’re not impossible.
Last week, Herbert Smulls was executed despite the controversial manner in which the State of Missouri secured its lethal injection drug. Smulls’ attorneys had secured a temporary halt from the U.S. Supreme Court just hours before his scheduled execution. While Smulls was on the phone talking to counsel regarding next steps, the call was abruptly interrupted by guards who summarily began the execution process. Smulls was executed before the High Court actually made its ruling.
The blowback on this action could have been pretty ugly had the Court upheld the stay of execution after the State of Missouri had already killed Smulls. Unfortunately, the Court ruled to move forward with the execution.
This hasty and irresponsible action underscores Missouri’s haste to kill as many as it can before the illegal manner in which they procured the drug gets a big public spotlight. It was the third time that Missouri had moved forward with executions before pending appeals were resolved.
8th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kermit Bye found this behavior alarming. This may be the reason he disclosed the likely source of Missouri’s pentobarbital. The Apothecary Shoppe is the name of the unlicensed pharmacy compound in Tulsa, Oklahoma providing drugs here. The veil of secrecy was snatched off by a judge – how refreshing!
While this is sure to come to a head in the coming weeks and months (the execution of Michael Taylor is set for February 26), Missouri could change another of its inhumane policies with little backlash from citizens and the courts.
Robert Rowry died recently of liver cancer, shackled and chained to a hospital bed as an inmate. According to his family and attorney Randall Cahill, Rowry had been denied a timely medical diagnosis, thereby delaying medical treatment for his liver cancer.
A couple of years ago, Rodnie Stewart’s case came to my attention. Despite heart-wrenching efforts by his family and the ACLU, the Missouri Department of Corrections refused to release the dying man so he could die with some morsel of dignity among his loved ones.
This is a policy that we as taxpayers need to pressure for change. There is no rational justification as to why these patients can’t be released on medical parole to their families. Their bodies ravaged with disease (usually cancer), the state’s doctors have given them weeks or months to live; they pose absolutely no threat to society.
The only reason I can see why this kind of medical release can’t happen is because the prison wants to count these men’s bodies like widgets so that they can get paid. If this is the case, the department can still do so with a policy that says the inmate, although released, is still in their custody. After the point inmates are released, there is very little medical treatment. It’s all about giving that dying family member loving attention and comfort.
That’s not too much to ask, and it’s not too much for Missouri to give. These are our tax dollars being used to carry out unnecessarily inhumane policies. Let’s make this happen.
