In a recent commentary in the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel a leading Federal Prison Consultant responded to an editorial titled, "Inmate deaths: Lengthy appeals process the real problem". The author of the editorial, Assistant Chief of Police and head of the Operations Bureau, Al Ortenzo, also indicated that the level of healthcare in federal prison is far better than the inmates received in the outside world. The consultant's response was a resounding "no".
The consultant was in total agreement with Mr. Ortenzo's opinion that the appeal process seems overly burdensome in our court system. He also agrees that Death Row should be a short term holding facility but only after all exhaustive attempts have been made to ensure that real justice has been afforded each prisoner. He went on to say, "I assume, after reading Mr. Ortenzo's article that he is a proponent for the death penalty. I myself, am not against the death penalty, when it is clearly determined that the individual who is about to die really did the crime."
In his article, Mr. Ortenzo states, "Each and every case, no matter how egregious the crime, certainly deserves several layers of careful and exhaustive reviews." Unfortunately, that is currently not happening. With the advent of DNA testing, many wrongfully incarcerated individuals are being proven innocent and being released from federal incarceration. The Innocence Project alone on April 23, 2007 exonerated its 200th inmate who was wrongfully convicted based on eyewitness identification through misidentification. Mr. Jerry Miller was exonerated through DNA testing and DNA evidence. He had always maintained his innocence but to no avail. Fortunately, he was released after serving 24 years in federal prison. Jerry Miller lost nearly his entire adult life because of a wrongful conviction. He didn't go to the death chamber, he didn't lose his life. Yet how many innocent individuals have gone to the death chamber before DNA testing could prove them innocent? We will never know, but even one is too many.
In cases where the accused admits guilt to the crime and there can be no possible mistake as evidenced by DNA testing, the death penalty may be warranted. But until that happens, we cannot say that several layers of careful and exhaustive reviews have taken place.
Mr. Ortenzo also states, "Studies show that all prisoners, including those on death row, typically receive a far better level of medical care from taxpayers than they would otherwise have provided for themselves outside the prison walls." Unfortunately, this also is not the case. I doubt that Mr. Ortenzo has ever been incarcerated in a federal prison. I have. http://jailtimeconsulting.com/index.php After nearly 36 months in both a Federal Prison Camp and Federal Correctional Institution in Miami, Florida, I can assure you that the medical care in the Bureau of Prisons is pathetic, appalling and inexcusable. There are many federal prisoners serving sentences far less than death row inmates. Many have been convicted of crimes much less severe than those of Death Row inmates. I had far better medical care before my imprisonment as did many of the other white-collar inmates who were there during my incarceration. Studies can be made to say anything the author directs or distorts them to say. Although this is unfortunate, it is true.
The federal government recently spent billions and billions of taxpayer dollars to bail out the banks, auto manufacturers, investment firms, and Wall Street companies in a matter of weeks if not days. The executives of these companies are not even in federal prison for their mismanagement and crimes. Yet, the federal government and the Bureau of Prisons cannot see to it that individuals incarcerated in federal