Posts Tagged ‘Prison Reform’
Cook County Jail Staff Daily Commit Assault with a Deadly Weapon
Jerry Brown, the Attorney General of California has indicted a doctor, a nurse, and a pharmacist for elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon for forcing high doses of psychotropic medications on Alzeimer’s and other patients to shut them up and keep them in a zombie like state. Three patients died due to results of these wrongful acts.
In Illinois it is illegal to involuntarily force psychotropic drugs like Haldol, Zyprexa, Ativan and even Benedryl by injection on patients unless they are an immediate danger to their own life or someone else’s life and then a court order must be obtained to continue the medication involuntarily. Also Haldol has very unpleasant side affects in a large proportion of patients including akisthesia (an inability to stay still – the person has to get up from bed and from sitting down – so the guards will think they are uncooperative and will assault the person even more), dystonia (muscle spasms, involuntary movements, tongue handing out, inability to control muscles of speech so slurred or difficult speech, if it happens with muscles of larynx the person will spasm down the airway and suffocate).
Cook CountyDept. of Corrections (Cook County Jail or CCDOC) officers constantly request nurses to give such medication to shut up complaints by inmates, to quiet them even though they are not harming anyone and are locked in their cells, and in retaliation for disagreements with the officers. Nurses call doctors on the phone and ask for prescriptions and the doctors illegally prescribe the medication without examining the patients. Even if they examine the patients, doctors at CCDOC under the direction of the Director of Psychiatry, Dr. David Carrington, continue to violate ethical standards and the law with such prescriptions when they are not needed and when there has not been adequate evaluations or diagnoses that require such medication. Even if the medications may be indicated, they cannot be given involuntarily except under strict guidelines. Haldol is a dangerous drug that should not be used like a pair of handcuffs and the person must be carefully monitored. It is a drug of last resort, not a weapon of restraint. Anyone using it as a restraint tool should be arrested.
I complained to the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commissions Human Rights Authority Branch that by law must investigate complaints of violations of the Illinois Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code. They sustained my complaint that psychotropic drugs were being given illegally to inmates to shut them up. After the HRA warned Dr. Carrington that this illegal practice must stop, Dr. Carrington and his staff with assistance of the officers are continuing to violate the law. Each act of forcing psychotropic drugs on an inmate/patient without proper diagnosis and without documentation that they are a danger to their own life or the life of others is a class A misdemeanor.
For more details about this “Haldol Menace” see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA2S-oOOJyY&NR=1
A second investigation concerning the illegal involuntary drugging of Mr. More is occurring right now.
Dr. Carrington should be disciplined, his license revoked, the nurse’s involved licenses revoked, and the officers retrained to understand the law and how to properly help in the mental health care of mentally ill persons without assaulting them.
If this was California, Dr. Carrington would be charged with abuse of patients and assault with a deadly weapon and face up to 11 years in prison. Why is State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez doing nothing? Why is the United States Attorney who came to the same conclusion about this medical battery and malpractice doing nothing? We need a public outcry, legislative hearings, and indictments and action by the Illinois Department of Professional Responsibility.
Please complain to:
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, Cook County State’s Attorney, 50 W. Washington, Room 500, Chicago, IL 60602,
Patrick Fitzgerald and Joan Laser, Asstant United State’s Attorneys at 219 S. Dearborn, 5 th Floor, Chicago, IL 60604, and
the press.
This barbaric medical battery and abuse must stop! Injection of these drugs into asthmatics or others without careful review of their medical records and careful diagnosis is malpractice, assault with a deadly weapon, and medical battery. It may cause death in certain persons (fatal laryngospasm in asthmatics) and permanent brain injury. Haldol has now been documented to cause brain atrophy in long term use and has a half life of 8 days in the brain – and leads to serious complications in at least half of people it is given to.
Sheriff Staff are Puppets of Corruption – Keep Corrupt Machine Alive
A person asked on line about the fights at the jail where inmates stabbed each other. “With todays riot I think all tax payers should call Sheriff Dart and ask why he refuses to hire more staff as federally mandated, why the E.R.T. (emergency response team) doesn’t search or respond to trouble, why doesnt he fire Director Godinez.”
The answer is not wasting tax-payer dollars on more guards. We need to reduce the jail population to less than 6,000 from its previous high of nearly 11,000. Non-violent offenders should be sentenced to alternatives other than jail that actually benefit society. There are lots of things a sentenced criminal can do as community service other than just picking up garbage, including providing free or reduced services as an employee for the state in almost any job category. Mentally ill convicts, including addicts, should be treated not just jailed so jail does not become a revolving door. There is not even 1/4 the mental health services available to probationers or parolees that are needed. Guards should be required to have a higher level of training, not only in terms of judo, but also in recognizing and de-escalating violence due to mental illness, as well as not treating every refusal to do as told as voluntary and requiring force. Mentally ill are often confused and react better and more compliantly with “herding them gently” or backing-off and giving them space, instead of with brute force, which generally will be irrationally resisted. Women who have been raped or assaulted may go into flashbacks and not even realize where they are, as they are reliving in their mind the brutal attack. Guards need to be taught to control without brutality and foul language. This is not a good example. They should be teaching inmates how to resolve conflicts peacefully and civilly not escalate them to violence as the officers often do, because that is what they are trained to do.
Another internet writer stated: “Amen to that, Linda. Why are so many non-violents that could be on house arrest still in jail. And why does the judge get to say “this drug addict is not fit for rehabilitation” without even giving it a try? It baffles me.”
You have to understand Cook Co runs on patronage. You have to have large armies of uneducated workers who vote for you as a candidate, and bring out the vote by acting as poll watchers and bringing people to the polls, especially dead people. Sheriff deputies, Court Clerk staff, DCFS workers, IDOC staff, etc., fullful this role nicely.
To hire such a large army you need to make sure they take long lunches, do only half the job they could so you can hire two for every one employee needed, or campaign on public time. You make your payroll bloated with excess staff. You fire employees who are efficient. You remind employees that if they work to fast they are depriving another person of a job. You promote only those who enforce campaigning and fundraising efforts. You promote incompetents who don’t think for themselves, never questions “authority”, and are loyal to the patronage system.
In order to have lots of guards you need to deny personal recognizance bonds for non-violent (I-Bonds). You need to put people in jail instead of on probation. You need excessive sentences, particularly for drug and non-violent crimes. You need a revolving door of a corrupt parole system and no mental health or drug addiction treatment.
So you need lots of prisoners or you can’t hire lots of guards and keep complaining that you need more guards! That’s the way the machine works to keep the corrupt in office. Guards are used! They are coerced and manipulated and made to think that if they squeal by going to 2111 S. Roosevel FBI office and ask for a duty agent and then provide evidence of corruption, patronage, brutality, medical neglect, excessive force, and fraud, that they will lose their jobs! Guards are fools to cooperate with this corruption. They would have a better job, better working environment, better benefits, if they were trained properly, if they followed the law, and if 10 % of our tax dollars weren’t going into political campaigns, like (“Friends of Madigan) through illegal kickbacks (bribery).
Remember the guards are abused as much as the inmates because they work in crowded unsafe conditions, are improperly trained and encouraged to be sadists, foul-mouthed and vulgar, intolerent, and violent hotheads, and without proper mental health and drug addiction treatment the inmates are dangerous. Guards are simply crazy to keep voting for the same idiots who are USING THEM and demanding 10 % kickbacks (bribes) to their political funds like “Friends of Madigan”. We need a massive grass roots movement, including the guards to vote out of office these criminals including Stroger, Madigan (Lisa & Michael), Dart, the Daleys, Beavers, Burkes, Jones, Steeles, Lipinskys etc., and their puppets. Political office in Illinois needs to stop being an inherited oligarchy. We simply have to help the FBI and U.S. Attorney take down King Richard Thompson, his Lords Madigans, Daleys, Burkes, Beavers, etc., the Sheriff of Nottingham Dart (previously Sheahan), and his high executioner Alvarez (previously Divine).
Anyone who wishes to help me do this – citizens and officers alike – you can even help in anonymous ways – e-mail me at picepil@aol.com.
Debate on Jail Reform with CCDOC Ofc and Dr Shelton
EXCERPTS FROM: http://www.cookcojail.com/questions.php
GUARD CCDOC June 10, 2009
Ive been reading article about the stabbing in div 9 on nbc5 the comment section was very interesting as to how people think about the jail system over all.people think the jail is there for re-hab and that it harden the criminals.The majority of the inmates lived in a sub standard life prior to coming to the jail.They only know violence as a tool to express themselfs.How is a jail responsible for getting people to live a normal.the problem start with the parent raising their child to have no regard for other people.the parent dont live normal to begin with.people think that when the parents fail the government to kick in.sorry to say this but having respect begins at a early age and blossums as the child gets older.just reading that article here about the store owner getting robbed and his son being cut and the store owner going to court only to find out that instead of being a victim he is considered a villian.the person who robbed him is only interested in going for a hair cut,the dentist,phone calls etc etc and the judge grants his wishes.so it shows that the system is soft on offenders and shows the public how insentive they are to the victims
Dr SHELTON June 10, 2009
Guard:
You have a warped point of view. Tell me how swearing at and degrading inmates, beating them until they die, denying them medication until their leg is amputated, being more violent and brutal than the inmates, passing contraband, and falsifying records will help rehabilitate anyone! The officers and staff need to clean up their act and stop covering up for the corrupt. The system is not soft on offenders. We incarcerate 40 X more people than any civilized country. Does this mean people in America are so much more dangerous and evil than people in the rest of the world, or does this mean we need major education, social, and prison reforms? I’d like to start with increasing educational requirements for officers and increasing civilian oversight at the jail, as well as putting incentives in society for education, jobs, and marriage.
GUARD CCDOC June 11, 2009
Your right linda what was i thinking i forgot most of the inmates coming into cook county jail are kind ,caring humans that are just misguided.Lets forget the the inmates living in cook county jail are responsible for some of the 800 killings in chicago.Lets forget the 28000 assaults committed by the cook county inmates.Lets forget the 2800 rapes committed in cook county.lets forget the 15000 robberies in cook county.see linda when you add it all up were does the victims come into play here linda.linda tell the mothers whos child was killed .she needs to have compassion for the suspect.the suspect was uneducated,he needs therapy.he doesnt know whats right or wrong.its not his fault.its the governments fault.Tell that shop owner he deserved to get robbed and his son deserved to be stabbed by that suspect.tell that guy the suspect is just misguided.how about we train the inmates to not swear,hit, kick and any other assault against staff with cook county jail we have 40 times more crime because this government allows it in other countrys then lock people up and forget them.i bet we have the best treatment when it comes to abuse look up north korea see how they run there prison system then come leave a comment until they shut up
DR SHELTON June 11, 2009
Guard – You make my point in your lack of understanding. What about the murder of inmates by guards, rape of inmates by guards, 90 % of inmates being charged with NON-VIOLENT crimes, 5 times more mentally ill people being in jails/prisons than in all the mental facilities in the country added together, lack of prevention/treatment programs for addiction, lack of rehabilitation in prison (leading to a revolving door), more than 1/3 of inmates having serious UNTREATED mental illness, abuse of inmates with illegal drugging with Haldol and Ativan. I turned over affidavits from 40 inmates to the U.S. Attorney, documenting rape by guards, battery of a handcuffed 8 mo pregnant inmate by a guard, medical neglect so that an inmate is seizing on the floor for hours before being treated, death in cells because inmate was denied asthma meds. The vast majority of inmates are NOT violent in any way, just uneducated, mentally ill, addicted, or ACTUALLY INNOCENT (at least 7 % per national studies). You are a malicious sociopath if you think inmates are NOT human beings and should be treated worse than animals. Even the guilty should be treated humanely – there is no excuse to batter, abuse, drug, rape, denigrate, violate, or demean ANY inmate. If they are guilty they will be sentenced. Pre-trial summary sentencing and inhumane brutal punishment by corrupt guards must STOP!
GUARD CCDOC June 11, 2009
Linda what do you consider non-violent inmates.I never said inmates are not human.Inmates are treated as how they treat the staff and each other.Since when is it the jails responsiblity to re-hab inmates for pysch inmates.Since when is it the jails responsiblity to make a thug /drug pusher/rapist/murderer a law.lawyer and liberal people like you only look at it as a money maker.Ive never seen a protest outside the jail pretaining to inmate welfare.The community is only relieved that they are locked up and not outside thier homes killing /raping/robbing there neighbors.Linda you must live in a good area and arent subjected to thugs running around stealing ,robbing,and killing law abidding citizens.
DR SHELTON June 11, 2009
There is something called the United States Constitution. Any patriot will defend it, including defending a criminal’s right to access the courts (law library), right to humane medical care, right to food (including special diets when prescribed by a physician), including clothing appropriate for the weather, including protection against violence by inmates or guards. The constitution doesn’t say that if an inmates swears at the guard or tries to hit a guard that the guard has a right to swear back, hit, degrade, deny medication, etc. Guards are supposed to be professionals. I agree we shouldn’t be housing the mentally ill in jails or prisons unless they are dangerous. They should get treatment and not by uneducated guards hitting them and degrading them. I have lived and worked in all sorts of neighborhoods. I have done autopsies as a graduate student in forensic pathology on all sorts of horrendous cases. I have pronounced babies dead that were burned, boiled, beaten, and abused. My family has buried members from war and lost others to totalitarianism. You don’t know me at all. You make a lot of false assumptions. As long as you are not willing to come and sit and talk, you won’t understand what I am trying to do. My nephew is a State trooper. Another is a guard in a prison. I am trying to improve their working conditions and respect in the community. Corrupt, untrained, sociopathic, or brutal foul-mouthed officers harm their image, degrade their working environment, and sink our society into a black hole. This trend must be reversed.
Guard – Most of the officers would puke or pass out if they saw what I have seen, touched, and smelled. Several did when they came into the autopsy room. You are awful naive.
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
M. Ghandhi
GUARD CCDOC June 11, 2009
Then the world shall go blind
GUARD CCDOC June 12, 2009
LINDA YOU HAVE YOUR BELIEVES AND OPINIONS AND I HAVE MINE.
Officers arent suppose to perform re-hab on inmates that isnt thier job.I never said i wanted to be a doctor nor do i wish to know anything about being a doctor.However i know how to jail and believe that you havent even seen what goes on.You never been in a full blown riot were your stepping in 1 inch of blood on the floor knifes all over inmate still trying to kill each other.You never seen a officer get his head cracked open by the inmates.inmates putting officers on total disablity ending their career.No linda if a inmate comes at me and i fear for my life im going to do whatever i have to end his life.we all have families here.i have 23 years on this job,and i can assure you that if a inmate is hitting me im not going to think that he/she is just a pysch inmate or a poor person with issues and ill be his punching bag.its not happening sorry.linda you said you seen everything in a morgue.then you seen the end results of what inmates and criminals are able to do.thoses bodies in the morgue arent a threat to you they are dead.The inmates in cook county jail are alive and well and have no problem causing each other great bodily harm as well as harming staff.
DR SHELTON June 12, 2009
Guard – Sounds like you are one of the criminal sociopaths who should be retired. You don’t have a clue how to be a guard or how to handle violent or psychotic people other than to act like a maniac yourself. I feel sorry for you as a product of a corrupt and inadequate system that fails to educate you, train you in proper self defense techniques (both mental and physical) and fails to provide sufficient staff numbers, as well as jails too many people who should have gotten help up front with mental illness and addictions.
GUARD CCDOC June 12, 2009
Clearly you dont have a clue about my job either im still in my career.Are you in your career.arent you a CONVICTED FELON.i never took a penny from anyone . You know word ‘Fraud’ mean anything to you.You had such a rough life daddy pays for college.has a ease life becomes a doctor but still fails and becomes a ‘CONVICTED FELON’.Im sure mom and dad are very proud of you
DR SHELTON June 12, 2009
Guard – You know perfectly well I am a wrongfully convicted felon (conviction about to be overturned) because Sgt. Anthony Salemi Attacked me, falsified his records, committed perjury, and his “friends” like you are covering it up. Sgt. Salemi is going to jail – in due time. The FBI are already involved! You also know I was found NOT GUILTY of fraud, after corrupt AG Lisa Madigan brought fraudlent charges in retaliation for my whistle blower activities. She will be arrested too -in due time. The FBI has been provided all the necessary info including the list of properties she allegedly uses to launder the money from her criminal activities. You can’t win a debate with ad hominis attacks. It just shows how desperate you are to keep covering up Sgt. Salemi’s crimes.
GUARD CCDOC June 12, 2009
I think the FBI already has its hands full with their own prison system.Lisa Madigan is our next governor.Hey maybe she could use you as a poster child for why we need to improve our mental health issues.we could name you ‘doctors gone mad and bad’ .staring Linda
DR SHELTON June 12, 2009
Guard – Since you have nothing to say except for total false statements and defamation, you have revealed yourself as who you really are – an ignorant officer who needs to retire. Just remember that everything on this blog written about me in defamation is forwarded to the FBI. Conspiracy to violate rights under color of law is a crime and defamation is a tort (means you can be sued.)
GUARD CCODC June 14, 2009
Boy i could tell you are a ex inmate You all want to do is sue.Ok linda how much money do you want from me.How about i give you two choke sandwichs when you come in on the new again.Can we settle on that.Because we all know you will be back.
DR SHELTON June 12, 2009
Guard – You don’t have the guts to meet me face to face. You don’t have the nerve to stand up to corruption and turn in your fellow officers who are violating the law. Suits are useful. They force change when the corupt refuse to follow the law – like Sgt. Salemi and the criminals who are protecting him. Perhaps you are Sgt. Salemi!
GUARD CCDOC June 14, 2009
Linda i never started this with you i responded to ‘alledged victim’comment.you called me untrained/uneducated/sociopath.Isnt that deflamation.You dont know me.Ive worked hard and long in the jail to understand what goes on.this jail is a big fat paycheck to the lawyer a and a small paycheck to the inmates.the liberals think that they did something good when i fact all they did was make some lawyer richer.the inmate get peanuts compare to what the lawyers make.i dont have and respect to lawyers or judges.the staff at cook county jail work hard and at the end of the day just want to go home to our families.Ive saved many inmates over the years and talked with many inmate to correct thier ways of living.I dont think its funnu when a 18 yr inmate comes from court and the judge sentences him to 100 yrs for murder.But on the flip side what about the person he killed and thier family.heres another thing you should know about me ive work with inner city kids that are headed in the wrong direction.The program has worked well many kids have been helped the to program that im with.it tough talk and hard work to make them believe that there is a better life than gangbanging.ive lived in the getto and still live in the getto so when you make liberal rude comments to me your going to get in right back.when you lived in my shoes you would have a better outlook as i do i think about the inmate along with the victims.
DR SHELTON June 14, 2009
Guard – If you give a d** you will call me and work with me to change the system. Guards must participate in forcing change. Let’s go to the County Commissioners, the Governor, and the FBI together with a plan. You know how to get hold of me as your system has my phone number. You are anonymous on this blog so obviously I can’t get hold of you.
________________________
I think this conversation illustrates why hearings need to be made before a commission in the Congress regarding prison/jail reform. The attitude that a person in jail or prison is a scumbag who should be squashed like a bug, has no human rights, no dignity, no civil rights, and should be thrown in the trash and a punching bag for every bully guard who has a beef – along with tortured and medically neglected at whim is now so entrenched in American culture that it will take a major re-education effort to train officers, improve our culture so that addicts and mentally ill are treated up front and don’t end up in jail/prison.
The religious concept of loving thine enemy, treating enemies with dignity and compassion, will replace our culture of brutality, hatred, torture, retaliation, and defamation only with great effort. Most inmates are released and brutality they experience in jail/prison will be magnified and used against society. Guards who degrade, defame, beat-up inmates, and treat inmates with disrespect as well as violate their civil rights contribute to violence in society as these now angry and vengful inmates are released.
We will not advance as a society. We will continue to destroy our economy as a prison society instead of putting our resources to better use (including the resource of human intellect and productivity – both guards and inmates) until the federal government takes on this issue in a big way.
I applaud Senator Webb in this task: See -
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20040105/tuhusdubrow
http://webb.senate.gov/email/incardocs/FactSheeti.pdf
http://webb.senate.gov/email/incardocs/FS_CrimJust_3-26-09.pdf
