[Kory] McClary is a writer for the Prison Journalism Project (PJP), a non-profit news organization that provides incarcerated writers with tools and training. From a cell directly below the man’s cell, McClary overheard his decline over several weeks and described it in a harrowing article that was shared with MindSite News, a non-profit news outlet that covers mental health. His report led to this investigation which is being co-published, along with McClary’s report, by MindSite News, PJP and the Guardian US.
A review of public records, interviews with prison mental health experts, family members and friends, along with the man’s own writings and McClary’s observations, raise questions about his treatment and care in his final days.
The man was confined, alone, in what other prisoners call “the crazy unit”. A video camera is supposed to provide constant monitoring for suicidal actions, yet he spent his final four hours sprawled forward, motionless, on his cell toilet…
The man’s name was Edward Robinson. He had served more than two decades of a life sentence and survived a bout of Covid-19 a year earlier. He missed the funerals of his grandmother and mother, but was still in close contact with family and friends along the east coast, who believed they would someday be reunited outside of prison walls. He was 49 years old when he died.
This is his story.
It is so hard to argue for prisoner welfare in the United States.
Budgets are so limited, and after years of “tickle down,” there are so many things we need to spend on to catch back up.
Some would say the prisoners don’t deserve it. Others sympathize, but have higher priorities.
And as the article points out, when we do enact reform, there’s no enforcement and prisons are in constant violation.
I don’t know what to do. But it’s clear we need to do something, because the current system is causing harm rather than helping.
