The Virginia State Police investigator seemed puzzled about what the inmate was describing: “unbearable” conditions at a prison so cold that toilet water would freeze over and inmates were repeatedly treated for hypothermia.
“How do you get hypothermia in a prison?” the investigator asked. “You shouldn’t.”
The exchange, captured on video obtained by The Associated Press, took place during an investigation into the death of Charles Givens, a developmentally disabled inmate at the Marion Correctional Treatment Center, who records show was among those repeatedly hospitalized for hypothermia.
After a special grand jury considered the case but opted not to bring criminal charges, Givens’ sister sued in federal court, alleging her brother was subjected to routine mistreatment, including “cold-water torture,” before he was fatally beaten in 2022.
The lawsuit has raised broader questions about conditions at the southwest Virginia prison, which the grand jury described as “inhumane and deplorable.”
And then what? What is the American public supposed to do about it?
Vote. Write Congress. Petition. Protest. Repeat.
Vote accordingly.
Good luck with that
Should we do nothing and hope it gets better?
I don’t see the difference
The difference between doing nothing and doing something?
Pretty much. “Doing something” in terms of voting has the same outcome as doing nothing.
The only way we’ll have any real change is if we roll out the guillotines. Are you willing to go there?
Why are you asking me if I’m willing to when you clearly haven’t done so yourself?
You should be asking yourself that question.
So you won’t answer the question? I’ll take that as a no. You’re not willing.
There’s some value in bringing some woodworking tools and lumber to city Hall and make yourself one as a performance piece