'Cost-cutting' measures in prisons and jails actually do bear a cost

By Thandisizwe Chimurenga
Tuesday Nov 29, 2016 · 9:30 PM EST

Privatizing government services and activities doesn’t sound like a bad idea on paper. The acumen required to run a successful business venture should transfer over into increased productivity and efficiency; sure, there’ll be a couple of hiccups along the way, a little stumble here, a misstep there. The problem is that we’re not talking about people’s mail (which is important, by the way) or some other inanimate object. Instead, we’re talking about people’s lives.

The privatizing of health care in the nation’s prisons and jails, for example, should be seen as not only an abysmal failure but also a gross violation of human rights. Deundrez Woods’ story is similar to many others: arrested on one set of charges—allegedly shoplifting and passing a counterfeit bill—Woods was found to have an unpaid speeding ticket once he entered the system. A two-month sentence in Alabama’s Madison County Jail in July 2013 became Woods’ death sentence.

… After about a month in the jail, Deundrez’s behavior started to change dramatically?—?by early August, he had dropped dozens of pounds and was barely lucid. He was suffering from a badly infected wound on his right foot?—?gangrene?—?that was not treated by the jail’s medical staff, despite his obvious and rapid deterioration. A lawsuit filed against the county by his mother, Tanyatta, alleges that Woods spent five days in a medical observation cell in front of jail staff, naked and hallucinating in a gangrene-induced haze. He didn’t eat or drink during that time, according to the lawsuit: He just rolled around and withered away on the hard cell floor.

Meanwhile, Tanyatta had no idea how disastrously Deundrez’s health had declined. She didn’t get a glimpse of her son until his August 15 court hearing. By then, she says, her son was barely recognizable. He couldn’t talk, walk, or even stand?—?the formerly powerful athlete was rolled into court on a wheelchair?—?and perhaps most disturbingly, he couldn’t register who she was.

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http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/11/29/1605246/--Cost-cutting-measures-in-prisons-and-jails-actually-do-bear-a-cost