NCJ Number
183596
Journal
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics Volume: 27 Issue: 3 Dated: Fall 1999 Pages: 216-233
Date Published
1999
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article describes New York State’s medical parole program, summarizes the data on inmate mortalities during the last 9 years and describes how the State’s prisons deal with seriously ill inmates.
Abstract
The article analyzes how legislation and correctional policies determine whether dying inmates remain in prison or are released. It also identifies flaws in the medical parole program and proposes how that statutory program could be altered to better serve terminally ill inmates. New York State prisons house many dying inmates who are forced to face death in facilities far from their families, in infirmaries where they are isolated and provided with inadequate palliative care. The Medical Parole Law initially offered hope that these inmates might be able to die in the company of their loved ones but, for most, that objective has been elusive. The statute has imposed an unworkable standard for eligibility, with a review process that is protracted and unnecessary. With few incentives for inmates or staff to pursue the program vigorously, most terminally ill inmates remain incarcerated until death. With some modifications, however, the program could realize its original purpose and provide humanitarian relief to many without exposing society to any significant risk of harm from these patients. Tables, notes, references