- 14 Jan 2023 04:56
#15262027
This is an American prison for you. Not the absolute worst in the entire world, but nothing like Western European or other White English-speaking countries.
This may sound unbelievable to many of you, but it could easily happen in many parts of the U.S.
A mentally challenged black man who caused a small scene in a police station was locked up and forgotten about, left in prison for a year until he died from starvation and neglect.
He probably did not deserve to spend a year in prison. He probably did not even deserve to spend 2 months in prison, but the justice system did not care about him and just left him in prison. He would be dead a year later, at the age of 51.
Larry Eugene Price, Jr. was frequently homeless, schizophrenic, and had a substandard intelligence level (IQ below 55, near mental retardation). He had also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and having "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder". He was then 50 years of age.
On August 19, 2020 he wandered into the small town police station in Fort Smith, in northwest Arkansas, as he did nearly every day. Police in the town were used to seeing Price, then 50, coming in, hanging around for a bit, then leaving.
On that day, Price used his finger like a gun to point around the station and at officers, threatening and cursing at those present. The officers, seemingly concerned for his wellbeing and the safety of those in the station, arrested him on the charge of "terroristic threatening in the first degree", which was classified as a felony under state law.
Although he was 6 feet and 2 inches tall and weighted nearly 200 pounds, according to police reports the man was not an immediate threat. He had no weapon with him. But the officers were unable to settle him down or reason with him, so he was handcuffed and taken to the Sebastian County Detention Center. He was locked up, then went before a judge who set the bail at $1,000.
He wasn't able to arrange to have $1,000 paid, so he stayed in prison. (Maybe he didn't have the money, although a typical bail bond company would be willing to put up the money for him in exchange for a $100 fee, maybe he was not able to arrange for someone else he knew to assist him to put up the money, or maybe he was simply just not in the frame of mind to do so)
Had he been able to put up bail, it is likely that the judge would have only sentenced him to much less time, or likely the prosecutor would have been willing to cut a deal.
In prison, the man's mental health further deteriorated and he practically lost his mind. Seemingly there was no one paying attention to his wellbeing, and no one paying attention to whether he deserved to be left in prison so long.
The man was finally found in a solitary confinement cell dead, with his eyes wide open, naked, starved, dried saliva on the corners of his mouth, in a pool of standing water so large his feet had shriveled. His medication had long since been taken away. Toward the end, he had resorted to eating his own feces and drinking his own urine.
By the time emergency services arrived at the jail to attempt to resuscitate, Price, formerly a solid built man, weighed just 90 pounds. Yet, even after his death, the jail guards responsible for monitoring the prisoner continued to write down reports stating, "Inmate and Cell OK."
"I was appalled -- a developmentally disabled, mentally ill man, who couldn't afford his low bail amount, was held in solitary confinement for a year," said Erik Heipt, a Seattle attorney with Budge & Heipt PLLC, who is representing the Price family. "He was not serving a sentence. He was awaiting trial the whole time."
Starved to Death in an American Jail, the Man Who Couldn't Pay $100 Bail, NewsWeek.com, Eric Ferkenhoff, 01/13/23
https://www.newsweek.com/2023/01/20/sta ... 73459.html
This may sound unbelievable to many of you, but it could easily happen in many parts of the U.S.
A mentally challenged black man who caused a small scene in a police station was locked up and forgotten about, left in prison for a year until he died from starvation and neglect.
He probably did not deserve to spend a year in prison. He probably did not even deserve to spend 2 months in prison, but the justice system did not care about him and just left him in prison. He would be dead a year later, at the age of 51.
Larry Eugene Price, Jr. was frequently homeless, schizophrenic, and had a substandard intelligence level (IQ below 55, near mental retardation). He had also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and having "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder". He was then 50 years of age.
On August 19, 2020 he wandered into the small town police station in Fort Smith, in northwest Arkansas, as he did nearly every day. Police in the town were used to seeing Price, then 50, coming in, hanging around for a bit, then leaving.
On that day, Price used his finger like a gun to point around the station and at officers, threatening and cursing at those present. The officers, seemingly concerned for his wellbeing and the safety of those in the station, arrested him on the charge of "terroristic threatening in the first degree", which was classified as a felony under state law.
Although he was 6 feet and 2 inches tall and weighted nearly 200 pounds, according to police reports the man was not an immediate threat. He had no weapon with him. But the officers were unable to settle him down or reason with him, so he was handcuffed and taken to the Sebastian County Detention Center. He was locked up, then went before a judge who set the bail at $1,000.
He wasn't able to arrange to have $1,000 paid, so he stayed in prison. (Maybe he didn't have the money, although a typical bail bond company would be willing to put up the money for him in exchange for a $100 fee, maybe he was not able to arrange for someone else he knew to assist him to put up the money, or maybe he was simply just not in the frame of mind to do so)
Had he been able to put up bail, it is likely that the judge would have only sentenced him to much less time, or likely the prosecutor would have been willing to cut a deal.
In prison, the man's mental health further deteriorated and he practically lost his mind. Seemingly there was no one paying attention to his wellbeing, and no one paying attention to whether he deserved to be left in prison so long.
The man was finally found in a solitary confinement cell dead, with his eyes wide open, naked, starved, dried saliva on the corners of his mouth, in a pool of standing water so large his feet had shriveled. His medication had long since been taken away. Toward the end, he had resorted to eating his own feces and drinking his own urine.
By the time emergency services arrived at the jail to attempt to resuscitate, Price, formerly a solid built man, weighed just 90 pounds. Yet, even after his death, the jail guards responsible for monitoring the prisoner continued to write down reports stating, "Inmate and Cell OK."
"I was appalled -- a developmentally disabled, mentally ill man, who couldn't afford his low bail amount, was held in solitary confinement for a year," said Erik Heipt, a Seattle attorney with Budge & Heipt PLLC, who is representing the Price family. "He was not serving a sentence. He was awaiting trial the whole time."
Starved to Death in an American Jail, the Man Who Couldn't Pay $100 Bail, NewsWeek.com, Eric Ferkenhoff, 01/13/23
https://www.newsweek.com/2023/01/20/sta ... 73459.html
- By Pants-of-dog
- By litwin