this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
169 points (99.4% liked)

News

23259 readers
3017 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Tonya Wilson Peel, a former correctional case manager at Dick Conner who worked alongside Lanford during her employment at the prison, said he had a sharp sense of humor and loved his job making license plates for the State of Oklahoma. She said Lanford had complained of excessive heat for several weeks leading up to his death but declined to seek help because he didn’t want money to be deducted from his commissary account for a medical visit.

“He had a heart attack that I’m pretty sure was caused due to the heat,” Wilson Peel said. “He was just so hot. He had told me several times that he was taking a towel and dipping it in ice water and putting it around his neck because he felt like he just couldn’t breathe.”

A corrections department employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of violating the agency’s media policy said Lanford and Willis had pre-existing health concerns but lived in a general population unit and maintained jobs. On one particularly hot day, the temperature inside a cell at Dick Conner reached as high as 97 degrees Fahrenheit, the employee said.

Dick Conner is one of several Oklahoma prisons that does not have universal air conditioning. Corrections department policy does not mandate a temperature range in living areas, though it does state prison officials should try to increase airflow during the summer months. The Oklahoma Department of Health requires pretrial facilities to maintain positive airflow if temperatures exceed 85.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] worldwidewave@lemmy.world 38 points 1 year ago (4 children)

declined to seek help because he didn’t want money to be deducted from his commissary account for a medical visit

The second portion of cruel and unusual punishment was required using commissary funds for medical bills. Health care should be a right for the incarcerated and the non-incarcerated alike.

[–] TrismegistusMx@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago (3 children)

If a person's right to freedom is removed, then the moral responsibility for their health and wellness falls upon their captors, regardless of what the law allows.

[–] June@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Private prisons are immoral top to bottom

[–] TrismegistusMx@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, but I was speaking more broadly than private prisons. There are many reasons to restrict a person's freedom, and many ways to do it.

[–] June@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Can’t disagree with you there.