Brickbat: Sick

Mineral County Sheriff

When Kelly Coltrain was booked into the Mineral County, Nevada, jail for traffic tickets, she told staff she was on drugs and prone to seizures when she was in withdrawal. And when she became ill, she asked jailers to take her to the hospital. Instead, they gave her a mop and ordered her to clean up her vomit. Less, than an hour later, she died in her cell. Her family has sued the sheriff's office.

Comments

[Rat on a train]

Traffic violations can result in fines or incarceration. Interactions with police could result in injury or death. Avoid traffic violations if you have outstanding warrants or a history with the police as it increases the risk of adverse reactions. Consult your lawyer if you are unsure of your risk.

[buybuydandavis]

Shorter: Avoid interactions with Police

[Rat on a train]

Mostly. But it sounds better as a advertisement voice over.

[Griffin3]

Don't drive like a thug, if you don't want to seizure and die like a thug?

[ipsquire]

Because the police don't ever arbitrarily enforce arbitrary traffic laws, only thugs need worry. Griffin3 for overlord.

[perlchpr]

All right, it is the internet, but I'm goddamn near certain that Griffin3 there was being sarcastic.

Either that, or he didn't realize that Rat was, and was being incredulous about that.

I have got to introduce a sarcasm font...

[sarcasmic]

Jailers are sadistic. Water is wet. More at 11.

[ipsquire]

Their customer service really is lacking. Why haven't the evil for-profit jails started competing on their Net Promoter Scores yet? Monopoly power is only bad when they guys who invest in their wares do it, I guess. Or maybe we need to just raise the wages for government jailers so we can hire the ones with skills.

[Ben of Houston]

You create your programs to please the customer. The customer isn't the prisoners. The customer is the state. So long as the state doesn't care about anything but costs, their only incentive is to lower the costs

[Rat on a train]

OT: Government employees were complaining on the train platform that the current weather forecast is unlikely to result in a closure tomorrow.

[Conchfritters]

And you ratted them out - niiice

[Cynical Asshole]

Now his handle makes a lot of sense.

[Ben of Houston]

Meh. Complaining about work is the unofficial sport of America.

[Jerryskids]

And some people think the War on Drugs is a metaphorical war. It's a very real war on drug users and there are very real casualties. Everybody accepts that there are reasonable infringements on your rights during wartime - the Constitution is not a suicide pact, after all - and if your rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have to be curtailed somewhat in the name of combatting the eternal enemy, well, it's an acceptable trade-off. Random stop-and-frisk policies and search warrants on a leash, militarized police and SWAT-led home invasions, asset forfeiture and third-party records seizures, unarmed suspects shot in the back and drug addicts dying in jail cells when medical care is withheld - it's all just sacrifices we have to make to keep us safe. It's your patriotic duty to bend over, dontcha know.

[Cynical Asshole]

And some people think the War on Drugs is a metaphorical war. It's a very real war on drug users and there are very real casualties.

"How can you kill women and children?"

"Easy, you just don't lead 'em as much withhold medical care when they go into withdrawal! Ain't war [on drugs] hell?"

[cravinbob]

What you do not seem to know is something many don't because if it didn't happen in their lifetime they don't care about it and they accept whatever...
Simply put to you most esteemed philosopher or whatever you is... all drug laws are based in racism. Period. Richard Nixon changed them around and added some nonsense. Look it up or ask a Federal Judge, racist laws starting with opium and the Chinese...

[BBerry12]

Please don't blame the United States for the Opium Wars.

[sarcasmic]

"The review of the case, in our opinion, did not establish any willful or malicious acts by jail staff that would justify the filing of charges under the requirements of the statute," Rye said.

Nope. Just depraved indifference which, while criminal for us peasants, is a requirement to be one of the king's men.

[Fist of Etiquette]

In reviewing the case for criminal charges, Rye, the Lyon County District Attorney, said he couldn't find evidence that the two jailers acted maliciously.

"Based on my review, they did not notice any signs warranting any medical intervention based on their training or experience," Rye said.

Contradicted in the report. Having a neighoring prosecutor take over an investigation changes nothing. They all run in the same circles. The local sheriff himself might as well have investigated his own office.

[Tom Bombadil]

Catering to an imprisoned person's claims of medical issues can be very inconvenient and burdensome on incarceration personnel. Therefore, I don't think they should be required to comply with the prisoner's wishes.

However, if the prisoner dies from the condition they warned about, the prison staff should receive a fast track to a murder conviction.

That should end these kinds of tragedies. It's just a question of proper motivation.

[Griffin3]

Just read the whole article, and all humor aside, if that had happened to one of my kids ... there wouldn't be much left of the Mineral County Sheriff's Office except for a ghastly mess, and a certain amount of paperwork. Not going to see much change until something like THAT happens, if you are talking about proper motivation.

[perlchpr]

Concur. Heads should roll for this. Literally.

[Don't look at me.]

(Said in a deep voice with Austrian accent) I'll be back.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Jail is all about punishment, and consideration of someone not feeling well is not high on their list. Had an admission to my hospital about a year ago, a patient who had appendicitis [which is easily addressed with laparoscopic surgery in most cases]; the jail waited so long to get them to medical care that the appendix ruptured and they died of infection. Totally and completely avoidable, but then that's jail...they just don't give a fuck, and if you get sick so much the better.

[Cynical Asshole]

they just don't give a fuck, and if you get sick so much the better.

And if you get sick and die, that's even better. Frees up a cell for their next victim.

[LibertarianJRT]

I scanned the article, but I missed what type of "drugs" she was on... Perscription or illegal?

[BBerry12]

Local story says she was a heroin user.