Aren’t prisons supposed to protect people from the criminals? Well, this does not appear to be the case in a San Diego juvenile detention facility. An 18 year old man, a prisoner, is supposed to be infected with TB. During his stay, he potentially infected over 300 people.
This is not the first time a person has passed on TB while being an inmate in a local jail. Rajesh Nikam, a man convicted of an attempt to culpable homicide, actually died of TB during his sentence. Though he was transferred to a better facility to manage his disease, who knows how many people he infected.
Being in jail simply makes matters worse. Prisoners are often confined to cramped spaces and are kept in close proximity to each other for very, very long periods of time. Similarly, jails are not known for their hygiene. This makes it even easier to spread the disease.
Thankfully, generally, most of the people who are exposed to this disease do not become infected. Nevertheless, it raises many questions. What would have happened if a prisoner does infected many people? Would he be sentenced to life? Who is at fault? Is it the prisoner? What about the prison itself? Shouldn’t they have maintained better supervision over the health of the inmates?
Wow. This addresses another pressing social issue. Why do Americans not demand more from their penal system? Do you think problems like this will increase as we turn to private companies to manage our prisons, or will market competition ultimately improve conditions?
ReplyDeletePrivatization is not always the best solution. If private prisons resemble private hospitals, the quality of care for the poor will go down tremendously.
ReplyDelete