The state of California has a prison system that has reached its maximum capacity, and then some. This prison is so full that they had to make the gym into a room as well, sometimes packing double even triple bunk beds in to accommodate as many prisoners as possible. With as many inmates as there are, it is impossible for all to get the health care they need. The article speaks about how it is difficult to find the means necessary to take proper care of the convicts. With the overcrowding of inmates and lack of doctors, a healthcare emergency has been called. Meanwhile, the overcrowding of the prisons is ongoing for several years, and continues to worsen.
Source:
Sara Mayeux, “The Unconstitutional Horrors of Prison Overcrowding,” Newweek, March 22, 2015.http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/the-barbaric-unconsitutional-horrors-of-californias-prison-overcrowding/
Student Researcher:Â Krishana Wick, Indian River State College
Faculty Evaluator:Â Elliot D. Cohen, PhD, Indian River State College
Ethic Alert
The judges and court officials are, in effect, sentencing California inmates to death because they know the conditions of the prisons and the risks of dying from renal failure or other diseases due to inadequate healthcare. No person deserves to be treated as such, whether or not they committed a serious crime. Many lawsuits have been filed by inmates because of such living conditions. When the gym was turned into a “cell” a convict was beaten to death by his fellow inmates and it took the guards a few days to notice and do anything about it. Is it ethical to keep sentencing inmates to the same prisons that are 40,000 people overbooked? The judges who sentence these inmates know that these inmates will probably die of diseases in prison before serving their prison time. Is it right for the prison guards and doctors to keep letting this overcrowding continue without speaking up about it? The corporate media needs to do a better job in publicizing this story so that something can be done about it.