|
|
| Watchdog group raises alarm over inmate's death |
| By The Oregonian |
| Published: 11/24/2003 |
|
On his 70th day in solitary confinement, Billy Owens erupted into a psychotic fit and died at the hands of prison officers. An Oregon State Police investigation determined his death by asphyxiation was an accident. But a report by a federally funded watchdog group says Owens, who suffered from severe schizophrenia, was the victim of a prison system that failed to adequately care for and monitor him. The center's investigation also found serious defects with the state Department of Corrections' efforts to treat and manage the growing number of mentally ill inmates. Among other things, the group called for changing "inhumane, unjust and ineffective" policies of punishing mentally ill inmates by isolating them in disciplinary segregation. Owens was frequently in the disciplinary segregation unit of the Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario. On April 29, 2002, he began stabbing himself in the neck with a broken pen, prompting officers to blast him three times with pepper spray. Eventually, five officers in riot gear dragged him out of his cell and restrained him with his face to the floor, where he stopped breathing. As Owens, 45, lay dying, according to the Corrections Department's review, prison staff laughed and engaged in unrelated banter. A nurse kissed an officer. Someone asked for a round of applause for the person trying to revive Owens. With 22 percent of Oregon's 12,200 inmates suffering from serious mental illness, officials have said they are growing more concerned about state prisons becoming de facto mental institutions. But officials would answer only a few questions about the report and said discussing it might violate medical confidentiality laws. Perrin Damon, a department spokeswoman, said the agency is constantly looking for better ways to care for mentally ill inmates. She said the department is taking the report's recommendations seriously. Before his death, Owens had served 12 years in prison for trying to kill his grandmother during a bout of psychosis. The Oregon Advocacy Center's report was highly critical of the Corrections Department repeatedly punishing Owens with long periods in solitary confinement whenever delusions from his mental illness led to violent outbursts. Disciplinary segregation prisoners spend 23 hours a day isolated in a cell with only limited possessions. Among other things, Owens suffered repeated hallucinations of a plot to harm his family and friends on the outside. In February 2002, Owens started a 145-day sanction in the unit for starting a fight with his cellmate. In its written response to the Oregon Advocacy Center, the Corrections Department said that the officers followed proper procedures, that Owens faked being unconscious before jumping up from the cell floor and repeatedly stabbing himself in the neck with the pen, and that he also refused to follow verbal orders and put up a struggle. Attempts to resuscitate Owens didn't begin for several minutes after he stopped breathing. Officers, the letter explained, were slow to help the inmate because they weren't sure if he was feigning unconsciousness. Staff members then had trouble finding a mask to begin mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, the department said. The autopsy found that Owens died of "restraint asphyxiation in excited delirium and/or restraint syndrome preterminal positional asphyxiation." The Oregon Advocacy Center is urging the state to move away from segregation and toward more clinical therapy if an inmate's disruptive behavior stems from mental illness. Because solitary confinement agitates many mental illnesses, 15 days should be the maximum punishment and only after all alternatives have been exhausted, the report states. The group said the Corrections Department should make use of padded rooms and follow the reforms of other states when it comes to officers restraining unruly prisoners in the prone position on the ground. It also recommends better training for officers, especially in the areas of first aid, and in identifying symptoms of emotional and mental disorders. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think