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Indybay Feature

Pine Box Parole: Life and Death in Women's Prisons

by Sophia Delaney/ SF IMC
Prison activists fight for better health care in the California Dept. of Corrections, alleging preventable deaths and sub-par medical care.
The volume of Judy Greenspan’s voice drops a few notches. She sighs heavily, and murmurs, “...I saw a woman drop and then I saw the most incredible commotion by staff as they tried to figure out what to do... We saw them bring in an IV, we saw artificial resuscitation, we saw that they were frantic. And then there was nothing.”

Eva Vallario, an inmate at Central California Women’s Facility, had come to the prison’s visiting room feeling ill on December 15, 2000. It was her usual visiting hour, but it ended up being anything but routine: as Vallario waited in the back of the room, she suddenly collapsed from a massive asthma attack. In front of a room full of inmates and their visitors, she choked on her own vomit, stopped breathing, and died.

It came as a shock: Vallario was only 33, and while she was ill with chronic asthma, no one expected her to die. Doctors from U.C. Davis later ruled the death preventable, had she been allowed to bring her inhaler to the visiting room or received CPR more rapidly.

The death was the seventh out of a rash of eight deaths within the prison in a seven-week period in November and December of 2000. Judy Greenspan, a long-time advocate with California Prison Focus, had come to the prison to talk with the inmates about the deaths-- but ended up seeing far more than she intended to. "In all my years of prison advocacy, I have never had a more nightmarish and haunting night..." she wrote about witnessing Vallario’s passing.

California Prison Focus and a host of other local prisoner rights’ campaigners have charged CCWF with creating many nightmarish nights for seriously ill women inmates. Prisoners with life-threatening diseases are routinely transferred to CCWF because it contains a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) for treatment of such illnesses, unlike any other women’s prison in the state. But activists say that medical care is mismanaged to the point of criminal negligence-- not only within the SNF, but also throughout California’s prison system. "People have been left to die because they’re not getting the medical care they need," said Karen Shain of the San Francisco nonprofit Legal Support for Prisoners with Children.

The allegations are not new. In 1995, LSPC filed Shumate v. Wilson, a landmark federal class-action suit. The primary plaintiff, Charrisse Shumate, was serving fifteen-to-life for killing her abusive husband. She was also suffering from sickle-cell anemia, Hepatitis C, and cancer, and alleged that the prison system had failed to adequately care for her diseases. Twenty-five other inmates co-signed the suit, including Sherrie Chapman, an inmate in California Institute for Women who discovered lumps in her breasts in 1984, but wasn’t allowed a doctor’s visit until a decade later.

The case won a conditional settlement in 1997: if the penal system did not fix 57 major flaws in its health care units (including long intervals between health care requests and appointments, ambulance service delays, sub-par preventative care, and poor chronic illness treatment), the case would be tried.  In 1998, both CCWF and the California Institute for Women, a maximum-security facility near LA, failed an investigation by state-appointed evaluators. At CIW, eleven violations were found.

The state shrugged the problems off; Attorney General Office’s lead counsel in the case, Ismael Castro, was quoted as saying, "Eleven out of fifty-seven isn’t that bad," in a 1999 article in the SF Bay Guardian.

The case was dismissed by mutual agreement in August of 2000, and Karen Shain says the LSPC will not file a new suit. In fact, it probably can’t. "Since Shumate, the law has changed," said Shain, citing the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act, which was "meant to eliminate frivolous lawsuits... but has eliminated class action."

In the meantime, prison growth has grown explosively in California, particularly among women. Between 1980 and 2000, women inmates increased from 1,316 to 10,978-- for every one incarcerated female then, there are now ten to take her place. (CCWF and Valley State Prison for Women-- a facility located literally across the street from CCWF-- both operate well beyond their holding capacity. Together they house about 7,000 inmates, and constitute the largest women’s prison complex in the world.)

Other circumstances have changed since the case was filed: in 1997, "compassionate release" became California state law. The law, co-authored by Judy Greenspan, stipulates that prisoners who are terminally ill can be released before parole is due-- provided it’s recommended by prison officials and granted by a specially appointed judge.  

But activists charge that the law is underused. In fact, Greenspan says that compassionate release-- which was a clause in a different early-release law before it became legislation of its own-- dropped after the law was signed. “What we wanted to be a medical procedure became a political one. No one [at the Calif. Dept. of Corrections] wanted to risk [looking like] they were soft on criminals.”

Having exhausted legal methods for changing prison health standards, and faced with explosive prison population growth, prisoners’ rights activists say they will continue fighting for justice behind the barbed wire.

On April 27, fifty prison activists-- mostly from the Bay Area-- drove down to Chowchilla, a small town in the Great Central Valley, to protest outside the gates of CCWF.

The protest featured a plethora of speakers. Heidi Strupp of the LSPC referenced a visit only days before by activists and the Dept. of Health Services: "They spent all morning trying to find a way to get us out of there." The DHS was investigating over eight recent complaints by inmates.

She and many other speakers called for a wide range of reforms, including an independent investigation into the prison, a new staff for the SNF, and more compassionate releases.

Greenspan says that such reforms are a possibility, despite the small size of the protest. “I think all the pressure is helping. I think that conditions may change a little bit about for the better... They [the DHS] are taking these complaints very seriously... The SNF might lose its license because of this,” forcing the prison to upgrade its care standards. She cites the recent upswing in prison-related activism, if not in health care issues specifically, as a reason for hope.

One of the speakers read a recent statement from Dee Garcia, a SNF inmate: “We’re the forgotten population... I was wheeled in here in an ambulance. Will I be wheeled out of here in a hearse?”

The protesters also intended to hand-deliver a list of demands for better medical treatment to Prison Warden Gwendolyn Mitchell, but that goal met with no success. "We have no one here to accept that," V. Versage, a guard stationed at the prison’s main entrance, told the group. He explained that it was policy for guards to not accept documents of any kind at the gates.

Warden Mitchell was not available, as she was not working on Saturday. After telling Greenspan to mail or fax the letter to the warden, Versage told the group that he "would appreciate it" if they moved back to the street.
Greenspan proclaimed that they would not only fax the demands, but would request a meeting held between activists, prison officials, and inmates in the SNF.

Although Greenspan admits that the chances of the meeting are slim, she also says that it’s important to the morale of the women inside to continue seeking change. She maintains that the activists exist as a means of support and a method of conveying news of the injustice inside lock-up to others outside, and they will continue to protest poor care as long as the women inside ask them to.

“We don’t want to speak for the prisoners, we want to orchestrate their voices.”

And in the end, they hope, perhaps keep those voices from falling silent forever.
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Comments (Hide Comments)
§.
by Tough Love
Don't do the Crime
If you can't do the Time
by prisoner advocate
Read more about the conditions in women's prisons here:

http://www.indybay.org/news/2002/05/125643.php
by Danielle
Watch "Shawshank Redemption" -- Then see if you sing the same tune...
by Joe F.
Crime doesn't pay.
by Neil Bush
Surely you jest.
by Jeff Alan (JJAlan [at] MSN.com)
The horrendous medical care is just one of the many examples of how prisons become factories of hate. It's amazes me that prisoners are denied the right to proper medical care, while at the same time they are given the luxerious opportunities to freely spread aids (by means of rape), to own slaves (which was supposed to have been abolished), and also to form radical hate mongering groups (whose messages create a factoryline of hateful men and woman). Governor Davis's obvious catoring to prison unions is a fine example of why prisoners turn to hate instead of rehabilitation and then take it out on us.
by Mary Anne
Try not breaking the law in the first place. How about a little more sympathy for people who OBEY the law instead of filthy criminals?
by Tom
And lets kick the criminals heads in and feed them crap and let them rot eh? You're no better than them Mary
by Jackie
Ok Mary your right don;t break the law not a good idea. But, Mary people make mistakes all the time.. A recent survey done on 2,000 ( supposedly law abiding citizens ) asked the question did you ever do anything that could have given you prison time. 91% answered yes. Think about 91%. It is estimated by the IRS that 70% of the American public don;t comply with the tax laws on purpose. think about 70%. Mary if everyone guilty of a crime where to be put in prison tommorrow who would pay the bill. Most of the American public would be in prison. So there it is Crimnals judging Crimnals. Oh and by the way just so you know it is a crime to abuse a inmate A CRIME MARY. Therefore, these staff members that with hold medical attention and rape female inmates are also crimnals and should be in prison as well. Or is it not true for the guard NOT DO THE CRIME IF YOU CAN'T DO THE TIME. See Mary your main problem is your a hyprocrite. You only want to punish certain crimes. And pray your crimes don;t get found out. And don;t say you never committed a crime cause most everyone has . Remember the bible says wantever you do for the least of these you have done to me. Maybe should rethink your position. What is rightous in the eyes of Man is not rightous in the eyes of the Almighty and that is where you future lies. Give it some thought.
by ZERO TOLERANCE
Speak for yourself. I was born in the 1960's. I have never broken any law. Period.

Stop making excuses for Perverts, Assholes, DateRapists and Pedophiles!

I will gladly pay for more prisons and for more electric and/or gas chambers.

Remove the scum now. Remember the victims. Live in peace and by the law or twist on the rope.

Stop the insanity.

Crime doesn't pay...

by Neil Bush
Surely you jest.
by patrick henry
People with no tolerance are the reason the world is continually in termoil. If you are not willing to tollerate me and my weakness why should I be willing to tollerate you . This attitude leads to nothing but trouble and benefits no one.
by patrick henry
People with no tolerance are the reason the world is continually in termoil. If you are not willing to tollerate me and my weakness why should I be willing to tollerate you . This attitude leads to nothing but trouble and benefits no one.
by Tessuraea (tesselusive [at] yahoo.com)
No numbers here, sorry... but it's been shown again and again that the people in prisons are for the most part not white, not middle or upper class, and not well educated.

Our system does not primarily punish those who break laws. It punishes those who are born with dark skin and into poverty--and who get caught breaking a law.

We all break laws. Most of us just don't get caught--or we get caught and set free.

So there is no justification for inhumane treatment of the victims of our criminal justice system--whatever they've done.
by Karen
Hello,
My name is Karen and in 2000 I was arrested for possessing a prescription of vicodin in someone else's name. In 1994 I had back surgury and still have never recovered. Needless to say I became addicted to pain medication and I spend 6 months in Jail and 4 days at Valley State Prison for Women. I was not supposed to stay there at all, I was a gate turn around, as I had already served my time. Anyway those days at the prison were the worst of my whole life.
When I was sent there I had been taking several medications in county jail including tegretol(carbamazepine, seizure medication), prozac(depression medication), motrin for pain, trazadone(anti depression medication), as well as several others including prevacid for ulcers. Most of these medications are psych meds, which should not be stopped without doctor consent and then should be tapered off to avoid serious side effects.
Well, I never received ANY of my medications the whole time I was at the prison. And boy was I sick. Not to mention it was August and I had been housed in air conditioning, and now I was sent to the desert and they said the air condioning was not working. The temps outside were 100 and over and inside a little cell with no air circulation, it was even hotter. I couldnt eat, and barely could hold myself upright. I had diarrhea and kept thowing up, I couldnt even hold water. I kept being told to stand in the med line and hope my meds were there, but everyday, twice a day, NOTHING. I fell down twice while standing in line during those days, and both times I was yelled at to "stand my lazy ass up".
Anyway, I wanted to share this and to let people know, my stay was only a few days, and not once did anyone try to help me. I feel extremely sorry for all the women there, and to think that about what they have to endure makes me sick. I heard many stories in those few days and I believe most of them.
We all need to stand up for them, because they have lost their rights and many of them are good people. Its up to us to try and help them.
Many of them are there because they were with the wrong people at the wrong time. How many of us have done things that we know, if we would have been caught it would have meant doing time?

Please send response to this to: prison [at] fevang.org
by don't get caught
Stay out of jail.
by 20/20
Stay out of the penal system. It's for losers.
by Borski
The moron that made those comments is the guy you have to be afraid of. He's the loser.
by Kate Webster
The comments made by many of the persons responding on this site are typical of the general community view of prisoners - 'lock them up & throw away the key'. Just remember - these people could just as easily be your daughter, sister, mother, cousin. Its not difficult to fall off the staight & narrow paths of lawfullness & good citizenship. We are all only human, and some people have circumstances working against them from the moment they are born.
Please don't judge everyone by the same criteria.

As a nurse working in female prisons (not in USA) I am horrified by what I have read about the conditions in these prisons. If only one tenth of the stories are true then the authorities responsible for this outrage should be made accountable.
Prisoners are part of the community and as such are entitled to the same standard of health care as everyone else. Prison Authorities should be responsible for supplying and paying for it. To expect a prisoner to pay to see a doctor when she earns so little is unrealistic. Health Eduction & Preventative health care, along with speedy treatment of current conditions, are essential to improve the health outcomes of this group of women. Most of them won't be in prison forever & releasing sick people into the community is a false economy. Many women have families to care for, children to raise, and need good health to do this. They also need knowledge of health issues to teach their children. Looking after women's health in prison is not only giving them their human rights, it is an investment in their humanity & their, & the community's, future.
by Lori
Isn't it funny how gray davis pops up from no where.
The man is plain evil, no mater what direction you look. Gray Davis manages to screw up what ever he touches. Gray Davis Loves Gray Davis.
by nyima metok (dragoncaller_999sbcglobal.net)
until you have experianced, at least once, the most terrifing experiance of being arrested and going to jail, you can in no way understand such a horror.i can with all honesty say"there is NO cime worth the time!" no matter how big or small, it all goes the same way, and that in itself is scary. for what ever reason, women in prison spend more time in lock down,(little if any out door time), little if any proper medical care, and 100 percent more abuse by their guards, and prison staff and their prison mates and no one to turn to for help.sometimes it seems women get punished for being women, and going to jail. like its extra bad for a woman to commit a crime.i have only spent a week in prison,and i was lucky, i was on crutches and was in the hospital wing,but looking through the slats at the rocks and water below, at a corner of the road that lead back to freedom.at the time i was facing 25years to life on a first offense(during the Rockefeller program,NY)i was arrested in a room with two others, a girlfriend 17, a guy 38 and myself 21.just for being in the room, with nothing in my possession,no drugs in me,no tracks either, i was charged with possession of controlled substance, poss. forged instrument(un-written prescription pads,and empty pill bottles with different names)and syringes. but no drugs.just all the makings. it was no doubt bad timing on my part, if i had just waited one more day to resue my purse form J's car i would A) lost the purse but B)never been in that mess. hey we all do dumb shit. that was my big one.from the ride in the freezing paddy wagon to Rikers Island, strip search, every crack and crevice,to not knowing where my life was about to go,no one to call,i was never more alone in the world than then.the basic ordeal a woman goes through just being arrested, cavity search, alone will drive a normal woman to sucide, like i said i wasn't there long but for 9 months i went back and forth to court(on the outside, thank goddess)my case was dismissed, as my lawyer showed that just because i was in the room i was not in possession of said items. but the real reason was i was Blessed, i was given a court appointed lawyer,(money lawyer doing his good deed to the court system if i had been appointed a leagal aide lawyer, i would still be in jail.i "ll never forget my lawyer saying"your honor, i have been in a room where there have been controlled substance, but that does not mean i was either in possession or using" the case was dismissed, i kissed my layer and went outside and kissed the Queens Courthouse steps for freedom.the is probablyalot of people still in jaill for bogus,minor drug charges during the so called Rockefeller Program, a sham by the justice system. no matter what they tell you and now it is worse than it was then, you are Guilty till, and if you have big money,and afford enormas legal fees to be innocent, other wise even if you are innocent chances are you will go to jail anyway. ladies i pray you think again before stealing that little perfume, because what you may think is just a little thing WILL change you life forever. lose your kids, your home, and any privacy, your life will never be yours again. so like i say "there is NO crime worth the time" think before you act. Blessings to All
by pearl (eboni93 [at] yahoo.com)
For those of you who speak so negative of inmates and other people troubles. Have you ever been down on your luck or have you ever made a mistake? Have you no heart for your fellow brother or sister? What is wrong with you? Maybe that's why there are so many people in jails and prisons now they run into people like you.
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