ii.1: Prosecutorial
Misconduct
“The case that
sent Juan Melendez to
death row for murder contained
no physical evidence of
his part in the crime,
only the testimony of
witnesses who placed him
there.”
“State
of Florida v. Juan Roberto
Melendez” (Case
No: CF-84-1016A2-XX).
Tenth Judicial Circuit
Court for Polk County,
Florida, 2001.
“… prosecutorial
misconduct, in some form
or another, played a role
in thirty-four of the
wrongful convictions—nearly
50 percent of the cases.”
“Causes
And Remedies Of Wrongful
Convictions.” The
Innocence Project, 2004.
“… ‘to
seek justice, not merely
to convict.’”
“Standard
3-1.2 The Function of
the Prosecutor.”
ABA Standards for
Criminal Justice.
American Bar Association,
1993.
“… the state’s
need for a criminal justice
system that is efficient
and seems fair.”
Zacharias, Fred C. “Structuring
the Ethics of Prosecutorial
Trial Practice: Can Prosecutors
Do Justice?” Vanderbilt
Law Review 44, January
1991.
ii.2 At the
Breaking Point
“With the average
cost per inmate at roughly
$25,000 per year…”
“Federal
Prison System Operating
Cost Per Inmate.”
U.S. Department of Justice,
Justice Management Division,
2004.
“… forty
states were under court
orders to address overcrowding
issues.”
Koren, Edward. “Status
Report: State Prisons
and the Courts.”
The National Prison
Project Journal,
January 1, 1992.
ii.3: Prisoners
First, Humans Second
“‘The truth
of the matter is that
they just didn’t
care about him’”
“Requiem
for Frank Lee Smith.”
Frontline, PBS,
2002.
“From 1990 to 1999,
health care costs for
the Federal Bureau of
Prisons rose an average
of 8.6 percent per year…”
Stana,
Richard M. “Federal
Prisons: Containing Healthcare
Costs for an Increasing
Inmate Population.”
United States General
Accounting Office: Testimony
Before the Subcommittee
on Criminal Justice Oversight
of the Committee on the
Judiciary. U.S. Senate,
April 2000.
“… ‘deliberate
indifference to a serious
medical need’…”
Estelle
v. Gamble, 429 U.S.
97 (1976).
“… the medical
staff must refer the inmate
to a hospital.”
Stana,
Richard M. “Federal
Prisons: Containing Healthcare
Costs for an Increasing
Inmate Population.”
United States General
Accounting Office: Testimony
Before the Subcommittee
on Criminal Justice Oversight
of the Committee on the
Judiciary. U.S. Senate,
April 2000.
“In Florida, one
investigation found 30
percent of prison doctors
had blemishes on their
records ranging from ‘medical
malpractice’ to
‘defrauding federal
insurers.’”
Becker, Jo. “Many
prison doctors have troubled
past.” The St.
Petersburg Times,
September 1999.
“In May 2005, California’s
prison health care system
was wrested from state
control and placed under
federal control after
disturbing discoveries
of medical malpractice.”
Marciano Plata et
al. v. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
United States District
Court for the Northern
District of California
(NO. C01-1351 TEH), May
2005.
“… health
care, an industry now
worth roughly $2 billion.”
Zielbauer, Paul. “Private
Health Care in Jails Can
Be a Death Sentence.”
The New York Times,
February 2005.
“‘…
patient records unread
and employee misconduct
unpunished.’”
Zielbauer, Paul. “Private
Health Care in Jails Can
Be a Death Sentence.”
The New York Times,
February 2005.
ii.4: Pushed
to the Brink
“Suicide is the
number one cause of death
in jails…”
“HIV
in Prisons and Jails,
2002.” Bulletin,
Bureau of Justice Statistics,
U.S. Department of Justice,
December 2004.
“…and the
third most common cause
in prisons.”
Hayes,
Lindsay, et al. “Prison
Suicide: An Overview and
Guide to Prevention,”
National Center on
Institutions and Alternatives,
National Institute of
Corrections, U.S. Department
of Justice, June
1995.
“ …‘patients’
charts were missing, alerts
about despondent inmates
were lost or unheeded,
and neither medical nor
correction officers were
properly trained in preventing
suicide…”
Zielbauer, Paul von. “Missed
Signals in New York Jails
Open Way to Season of
Suicides.” The
New York Times, February
2005.
“…They may
be kept in solitary confinement
until they renounce any
suicidal intentions.”
Eaton-Robb, Pat. “Connecticut
Prison System Dealing
with Rash of Suicides.”
Associated Press,
May 2005.
“The sense that
harsh punishment is being
imposed unfairly makes
it much more difficult
to tolerate…”
Kupers, Terry. In e-mail
conversation with Lola
Vollen, August 2005.
“With two-thirds
of all suicides occurring
in solitary confinement…”
Oliphant, Jim. “Death
Behind Bars.” Legal
Times, December 2002.
“Their deaths pass
largely unnoticed, reported
in the back pages of local
newspapers, when chronicled
at all.”
Oliphant, Jim. “Death
Behind Bars.” Legal
Times, December 2002.
