www.newsandletters.org
|
|
NEWS & LETTERS, December 2001Prison budget cuts
Oakland, Cal. - California Governor Gray Davis ordered state agencies to prepare
a 15% cut in spending. One would think that the proposed maximum security prison
in Delano would be the first to be cut, as the California Department of
Corrections' own statistics show that for the first time in two decades, the
prison population growth is zero and expected to shrink as drug offenders are
supposed to be offered drug treatment instead of long prison sentences.Instead, we are hearing from women prisoners that they are experiencing
dramatic cuts in health care. Apparently, the current hepatitis C doctor at
Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla tells women they are
"cured" of hepatitis C (the disease is not curable) and denies them
life-extending treatment. According to a report by the HIV/Hepatitis C in Prison Committee women, with
HIV are no longer being monitored for disease progression every 90 days. Women
with hepatitis C are being denied access to educational material, test results,
liver biopsies and medically indicated treatment. Women prisoners who are
undergoing chemotherapy are too weak to go to work or school. Yet they are
denied a disabled status, forcing them "to choose between saving their
parole date and getting life-saving treatments for their disease. This is an
unfair and inhumane choice." We have heard that women who need wheelchairs have been ordered to sign a
form allowing CCWF to charge them $150 if they damage their wheelchair or want
to parole with it. The prison then proceeded to take their money, even though
the wheelchairs have not been damaged. When the women complain, on paper, trying
to indicate they did not mean to allow the withdrawal of their funds, they are
being prosecuted for attempting to defraud the state of the $150. The inhumanity of the system is clear from the multi-billion dollar tax
rebates for multi-billion dollar companies while the laid-off workers get
nothing for their livelihood. It is so much more stark when the women prisoners
pay for the budget cuts with their lives. We are all in this together. It is
urgent that we find a way out. Urszula Wislanka |
|
Home l News & Letters Newspaper l Back issues l News and Letters Committees l Dialogues l Raya Dunayevskaya l Contact us l Search Published by News and Letters Committees |
