NC inmate died of thirst after 35 days in solitary

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

NC inmate died of thirst after 35 days in solitary
By MICHAEL BIESECKER, Associated Press | September 26, 2014 | Updated: September 26, 2014 8:20pm

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina inmate with mental illness who died of thirst was held in solitary confinement for 35 days and cited twice for flooding his cell, according to prison records.

Inmate Michael Anthony Kerr was found unresponsive in the back of a van March 12 after being driven three hours from Alexander Correctional Institution in Taylorsville to a mental hospital at Central Prison in Raleigh. An autopsy released earlier this week says the 54-year-old inmate, who had schizophrenia, died of dehydration. The report also said he was receiving no treatment for the symptoms of his mental illness.

A written policy at the North Carolina Department of Public Safety allows prison staff to respond to the "misuse of plumbing facilities" by turning off the water to an inmate's sink and toilet. State prison officials did not respond Friday to questions about whether water to Kerr's cell was cut off in the days before his death.

Public records released to The Associated Press show Kerr was placed in "administrative segregation" on Feb. 5. The status means an inmate is confined to a solitary cell for such reasons as "to preserve order where other methods of control have failed."


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/NC-inmate-died-of-thirst-after-35-days-in-solitary-5783016.php

[No Vested Interest]

1. This is a disgrace. What a terrible example to the world. nt

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Judi Lynn.

[azurnoir]

3. Wouldn't that be negligent homicide?

at the very least

[Kelvin Mace]

21. Not when police or prison guards do it.

Then it's just SOP.

[Solly Mack]

4. Pathetic. Disgraceful.

K&J

[Live and Learn]

5. Disgusting! There is no excuse.

How dare we profess such utter contempt at beheadings, when we treat people even worse. And no, I didn't forget the sarcasm tag.

[C Moon]

6. That must have been a horrible way to die! Fock!

[ReRe]

7. Was this a black man???

I could not find a mention of the fact in the linked report. Nonetheless, this is a horrible indictment on the state of NC, mush less the USofA. You would think it was the 1920s or before.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Yes, he was, ReRe. I went to find more info after seeing your post, found a photo:

[center]

Michael Anthony Kerr[/center]
Here's a letter which was found, written by another prisoner, concerning what happened o Michael Kerr:

Breaking: New Evidence of Neglect and Abuse in the Death of NC Prisoner Michael Kerr

The following letter was part of a correspondence between a regular anarchist prison news bulletin and a prisoner who was eye (and ear) witness to the events leading up to the death of Michael Kerr. The prisoner’s name has been redacted to protect them from backlash from the administration. Kerr died in (perhaps, up to now) mysterious circumstances en route between Alexander CI and Central Prison. The NC DPS, after initially saying there would be no investigation, has now said there will be. A scanned image of the letter can be seen below.

More:
http://prisonbooks.info/2014/04/16/breaking-new-evidence-of-neglect-and-abuse-in-the-death-of-nc-prisoner-michael-kerr/

[deafskeptic]

9. This is totally unacceptable. WTF wasn't this man receiving treatment for his illness

instead of being thrown into the slammer and into solitary? This is like the dark ages.

[Judi Lynn]

10. It would take a criminally insane person to do that to a human being, one would think.

Sadistic, evil, vicious. It sticks in your mind so painfully just knowing about it.

They should be stashed far behind bars, themselves, permanently. Nothing less would work.

[BronxBoy]

14. Because this country.....

treats the mentally ill like they are subhuman.

[awoke_in_2003]

23. It is cheaper...

and more profitable for some, just to lock him up. It is disgusting.

[Delphinus]

17. OMG!

These people need to be in jail - they killed him by refusing to do their jobs!

[ReRe]

28. Reminds me of something far to the right of....

... "One Flew Over the Coocoo's Nest." It's unAmerican behavior to have a prison being run like that. It should be shut down now and burned to the ground. Anywhere there is a prison run like this, it should be shut down.

It's actually a miracle that this country isn't on fire right now, from black riots. Every time word comes out about the deadly mistreatment of a black person, I cringe. Every day now, we hear yet another story of cruelty to our fellow black citizens.

Thanks ,Judi, for the link to the letter from a fellow prisoner of Mr Kerr and Mr Kerr's picture.

[Judi Lynn]

32. I'll just bet if police treated prisoners like that in a leftist-led government, our chicken-hawks

would be shrieking their lungs out to overthrow that government immediately! We'd be seeing aggressive condemnation of that country daily in our corporate stenographic "news" media.

[hedgehog]

11. We closed the asylums and started sending the scary sick straight to prison.

[cali]

24. Many of the asylums were just as bad

[TorchTheWitch]

12. OMG, what a disgrace

I'm so sickened I just can't look at this anymore.

[drynberg]

13. Time for some turnkeys to see the inside of cells, upclose

This criminal treatment of a fellow human is terrible and belongs to be the basis of a trial, no?

[loudsue]

15. Is this a corporate prison, or a State run prison?

Either way, I hope this becomes an international incident.

[Sunlei]

16. ACLU has a case in Courts with similar torturous conditions in a Miss. private prison

What has America become as a country? Where will we be in another decade?

The United States is the world's leader in incarceration with 2.2 million people currently in the nation's prisons or jails -- a 500% increase over the past thirty years.

[ColesCountyDem]

18. This case is a poster child for our nation's disgraceful lack of meaningful mental health care.

Jails and prisons are now the number one providers of what passes for delivery of mental-health care in this nation, and both systems are failing miserably at doing the job.

Our sheriff is a classmate of mine and, fortunately, a kind, compassionate and, most importantly, educated and reasonably enlightened man. On any given day, approximately 75% of the inmates in our county jail are suffering from some form of mental illness requiring, at minimum, medication.

Donnie has to fight the county board to get money to train jail personnel in how to properly deal with mental illness, fight them to get money to buy the proper (and often expensive) medications, fight them to pay for a LCSW and a psychologist to evaluate, diagnose and recommend proper treatment to the jail's medical director, etc. .

Sad, isn't it?

[myrna minx]

19. What have we become?

[jwirr]

20. Hopefully this man has someone who cares about him enough to sue both the state and the prison

for housing mentally ill people in a prison facility and then mistreating him. This has got to stop. We used to be a relatively great nation. Today we are heading back to the dark ages and in this case we are already there.

[marble falls]

22. So he died "to preserve order where other methods of control have failed.".....

This stinks. We don't treat animals very well in this country and we mistreat the ill and imprisoned even worse.

[blkmusclmachine]

25. Negligent homicide???

[questionseverything]

26. at least

solitary confinement in itself is inhuman but to shut off his water and then not provide any drink to replace it is criminal

[Judi Lynn]

33. Odd description for torture, and murder. n/t

[secondwind]

27. this is unacceptable.... even in jail, you are entitled to water!

[rhett o rick]

29. Thanks for posting. This was outrageous. We must get progressives elected to end this.

Those that support the status quo are a disgrace to the Democratic Party.

[atreides1]

30. WHAT A UNIQUE WAY TO CARRY OUT A DEATH SENTENCE

Unfortunately this man hadn't been sentenced to death...

This was in "Christian" North Carolina, wasn't it? And I'll bet a six pack that the prison officials and the guards have "sincere religious beliefs", just like ISIL!!!

What pray tell is the state legislature going to do now? Absolutely nothing would be my guess, but what can one expect from "Christianity" as it is practiced by twisted, delusional f**ks who should be the ones behind bars!!!!

[marym625]

31. We are the evil we complain about other countries

We have become a nation of inhumane, racist, sexist, murdering pigs.

How many people have to die at the hands of law enforcement before we do something?

My god we suck. This is heartbreaking. Inexcusable.

Thank you for the post.

[Judi Lynn]

34. Related info.: Mississippi Sued Over 'Hellish' Conditions in For-Profit Prison

Published on Friday, September 26, 2014
by Common Dreams

Mississippi Sued Over 'Hellish' Conditions in For-Profit Prison

Lawyers say incarcerated men with severe psychiatric disorders face medical neglect, insufficient food, solitary confinement, and abuse at "special needs" facility

by Sarah Lazare, staff writer

Denial of food and medical care. Cells and floors soiled with blood, urine, and feces. Excessive force by prison guards. Weeks, months, and years in solitary confinement.

These are the conditions found at a "special needs" for-profit prison, the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, which is tasked by the state's department of corrections with incarcerating 1,200 people, approximately 1,000 of whom have severe psychiatric disorders, according to a legal motion filed Friday.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union, Law Office of Elizabeth Alexander, and Covington & Burling LLP filed the motion in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, asking the federal court to approve a 2013 complaint as a class-action suit against the state officials in charge of the East Mississippi Correctional Facility (EMCF). They say they hope this move will help protect all of the people who are subject to the facility's "inhumane" and "torturous" conditions.

Formerly run by private prison company GEO Group, the EMCF is now operated by the Utah-based Management and Training Corporation, with its health services provided by the Mississippi-based Health Assurance, LLC. Both companies won lucrative contracts with the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/09/26/mississippi-sued-over-hellish-conditions-profit-prison