Book 'Em and Cook 'Em. Perryville Prison Bakes an Inmate to Death.

[gdoane]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/swvalley/articles/2009/05/20/20090520prisondeath0521.html





Woman dies at Perryville prison after being left outside

[/URL] by Casey Newton - May. 20, 2009 07:15 PM
The Arizona Republic


Three prison officials have been suspended while the state investigates the heat-related death on Wednesday of a woman who had been placed in an outdoor cage for several hours.


A deputy warden, a captain and the lieutenant in charge of supervising the cage at [URL="http://www.azcentral.com/community/swvalley/articles/2009/05/20/20090520prisondeath0521.html#"]Arizona State (http://www.azcentral.com/community/swvalley/articles/2009/05/20/20090520prisondeath0521.html#comments) Prison Complex-Perryville have been placed on administrative leave. They are now the subject of a criminal investigation by the Arizona Department of Corrections, said Charles L. Ryan, the department's director.


Temperatures reached 107.5 degrees Tuesday in Goodyear, where Marcia Powell collapsed after spending nearly four hours in the sun. Powell, 48, was serving a 27-month sentence for prostitution.

************************************************** ***

Perryville State Prison is a female prison facility in Goodyear, AZ about 20 miles West of Phoenix.

Four hours unsheltered in heat exceeding 107° can obviously raise the core body temperature beyond the danger level of 105° F (Heat Stroke) which is probably what happened here, turning a sentence for prostitution into a death penalty offense.

Somebody is going to fry for this, and this time it won't be the prisoner.

[StoneScratcher]

Maybe they should send all those responsible to Gitmo.

Poor woman, what a horrible death.

[RKing]

Is it cruel that the first thing I was concerned about was what she was in for?
Then to see prostitution.
Horrible, Horrible, way to go for anyone.

[notluzn]

Prison life sucks doesn't it.. Don't go there. Spend 8 Hours in Chem Suits and in full mop for 4 hours in a hot place.

[ImNewHere]

Baked inmate. yum. That's good eatin!

[notluzn]

I'm also positive that she was a METH Drug Head and commited more crimes.

[notluzn]

Gene, why are you getting this info from a Liberal news? They never tell the whole story. I'll talk to Bruce Jacobs tomorrow and see what he knows.

[gdoane]

Prison life sucks doesn't it.. Don't go there. Spend 8 Hours in Chem Suits and in full mop for 4 hours in a hot place.

I thought it was MOPP (Mission Oriented Protective Posture). That's what we called it in the Navy (among other things I served 8 years in the U.S. Military).

We had WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Thermometers) and the training to use such things to keep from exceeding exposure limits on the ship because when you've got an engine room with diesel generators and twin jet engines running full bore it gets hot.

I hung out with the Snipes quite a bit learning the engineering stuff because that's the part of the ship I didn't know. My day job in ship-to-shore and satcom communications had me in the coldest part of the ship most of the time. The radio transmitter room could freeze an eskimo out. I was wearing a jacket in the Persian Gulf in JULY because that room was so cold.

I'd go down to the engine room to warm up a bit and learn the gauges and how to run the propulsion systems. They have limits posted in the hottest areas and you're really not allowed to exceed them. If the limit is 40 minutes and you stay 50, you're in big trouble especially if you wind up in sick bay because you didn't follow orders.

As for Marcia Powell, here's the kicker:

She was suspected of being mentally ill and was waiting for a transfer to a psych unit. The whole reason she was stuck in that cage to bake for four hours in the Sonoran Desert heat was because they thought she had a mental disturbance.

So, throwing a few bottles of water at her hoping that she's got the mental wherewithal to know you need to drink about a gallon of water per hour in 107° heat while she's in holding waiting for a psych evaluation is stone cold stupid.

Criminally stupid.

I think somebody is going to be hit with criminal charges off of this incident. I don't see how this can be brushed off as an accident.

[gdoane]

Gene, why are you getting this info from a Liberal news? They never tell the whole story. I'll talk to Bruce Jacobs tomorrow and see what he knows.

I'm not seeing a lot of room for spin here. The one question I do have is how a prostitution charge is TWO YEARS in State Prison. Dang that's harsh! The only thing I can figure is a rap sheet came into play and major repeat offender was part of the sentencing.

You're probably right that there's more to this criminal that meets the eye and she did something worse than shake her moneymaker for a little cash on Van Buren and 43rd Avenue.

But there's no way that anybody deserves to die baked in a cage like that. That's purely unprofessional misconduct and I don't care what the spin is, there's no excusing this. Liberal media spin or no, this is not acceptable from our prison system.

[Paul31]

She might have been convicted for several counts of prostitution. That is probably the only way she would have received two years.

[King Cantona]

Gene, why are you getting this info from a Liberal news? They never tell the whole story. I'll talk to Bruce Jacobs tomorrow and see what he knows.

:))

Yes lets get it from Fox News, then we'll be fully informed.....;)......

Priceless........

[sgtmac_46]

I'm not seeing a lot of room for spin here. The one question I do have is how a prostitution charge is TWO YEARS in State Prison. Dang that's harsh! The only thing I can figure is a rap sheet came into play and major repeat offender was part of the sentencing.

You're probably right that there's more to this criminal that meets the eye and she did something worse than shake her moneymaker for a little cash on Van Buren and 43rd Avenue.

But there's no way that anybody deserves to die baked in a cage like that. That's purely unprofessional misconduct and I don't care what the spin is, there's no excusing this. Liberal media spin or no, this is not acceptable from our prison system.

Criminal history was probably prostitution, drug possession and petty theft. Some states have repeat offender prostitution laws that make it a felony after three convictions.

[gdoane]

Criminal history was probably prostitution, drug possession and petty theft. Some states have repeat offender prostitution laws that make it a felony after three convictions.

The article did say there was a prior conviction for drug possession so it wasn't a first offender.

Still, if you're going to execute somebody for a crime, baking them to death is a pretty harsh way to go. At least use the electric chair or something fast enough that no basting is required.

[StoneScratcher]

The article did say there was a prior conviction for drug possession so it wasn't a first offender.

Still, if you're going to execute somebody for a crime, baking them to death is a pretty harsh way to go. At least use the electric chair or something fast enough that no basting is required.

I agree.

This isn't cruel, it's sick...it's beyond belief what suffering this poor woman went through.

Geeze, it ticks me off that underwear on someone's head is called "torture", (dare I go there), and some people will scream and hissy fit over not having a window to look out of, all this is torture. Waterboarding is torture...yeah, right, and then if your kid was sitting on the hijacked bus that was carrying a dirty bomb somewhere you'd be not only waterboarding, you'd be pulling their eyes out with your own fingernails to get information...

What ever this woman did...she didn't deserve to roast in the sun and heat like a trapped animal.

If it had been a dog, people would be screaming.

Sometimes I think it's a shame, upon conception, humans weren't seen as softly tufted puppies--people relate more to fur than to human-specied DNA.

Send all those responsible to Gitmo, as I said in an earlier post. Not to be prisoners, but to handle the prisoners there. They need some sunshine.

[notluzn]

I don't feel sorry for her. There are soldiers that have it much worse and people are feeling sorry for this trash? Yeah the prison messed up because they disreguarded policy but I'm not lossing sleep over a druggie prostitute.

[notluzn]

:))

Yes lets get it from Fox News, then we'll be fully informed.....;)......

Priceless........
first off bro, I don't look at one site of info and news unlike your liberal brain. I talk to people that are in the know. I know people that work there at that Prison and I'll ask them after all is final. Second, the only thing I can see is that they messed up with policy and thats the prisons fault. I also believe that prison is a place you're not supposed to go to and if you're a prisoner, you get treated like one. They get treated better than you think.

[RKing]

first off bro, I don't look at one site of info and news unlike your liberal brain. I talk to people that are in the know. I know people that work there at that Prison and I'll ask them after all is final. Second, the only thing I can see is that they messed up with policy and thats the prisons fault. I also believe that prison is a place you're not supposed to go to and if you're a prisoner, you get treated like one. They get treated better than you think.
Three hots a cot, health care, a free education, some have argued to give them a job too. "Sounds" like a liberal eutopia. OK, maybe not for this hooker.

[brouski]

first off bro, I don't look at one site of info and news unlike your liberal brain. I talk to people that are in the know. I know people that work there at that Prison and I'll ask them after all is final. Second, the only thing I can see is that they messed up with policy and thats the prisons fault. I also believe that prison is a place you're not supposed to go to and if you're a prisoner, you get treated like one. They get treated better than you think.

Clearly not all of them.

[sgtmac_46]

The article did say there was a prior conviction for drug possession so it wasn't a first offender.

Still, if you're going to execute somebody for a crime, baking them to death is a pretty harsh way to go. At least use the electric chair or something fast enough that no basting is required.

Oh, I agree. I can't believe an outdoor cage in Arizona is considered an acceptable place to leave prisoners for several hours in 2009.....I know if I was the prison administrator I think I would have seen this coming a long time ago.

[gdoane]

Oh, I agree. I can't believe an outdoor cage in Arizona is considered an acceptable place to leave prisoners for several hours in 2009.....I know if I was the prison administrator I think I would have seen this coming a long time ago.

The only explanation I can think of is the prison figured it's just May and it doesn't get that hot here this time of year. Which is true, this past week was running about 10° hotter than normal for this time of year. Still, it doesn't take a weatherman to tell that the heat is on.

I can't believe they even have cages outside like that. They'll probably tear them all out after the investigation concludes that they're a bad idea.

[notluzn]

Clearly not all of them.She wasn't innocent

[notluzn]

Oh, I agree. I can't believe an outdoor cage in Arizona is considered an acceptable place to leave prisoners for several hours in 2009.....I know if I was the prison administrator I think I would have seen this coming a long time ago.
I was wondering the same thing. No Cover for that area.....Is it not completed?

[gdoane]

I was wondering the same thing. No Cover for that area.....Is it not completed?

You can stick a fork in it... it's done.

[King Cantona]

I don't feel sorry for her. There are soldiers that have it much worse and people are feeling sorry for this trash? Yeah the prison messed up because they disreguarded policy but I'm not lossing sleep over a druggie prostitute.

Of course you don't, you'd have to have a heart first........

[notluzn]

You can stick a fork in it... it's done.
Thats what happens when you look for the lowest Bider.

[King Cantona]

first off bro, I don't look at one site of info and news unlike your liberal brain. I talk to people that are in the know. I know people that work there at that Prison and I'll ask them after all is final. Second, the only thing I can see is that they messed up with policy and thats the prisons fault. I also believe that prison is a place you're not supposed to go to and if you're a prisoner, you get treated like one. They get treated better than you think.

Can't say that I'm surprised at your callous attitude.......

[notluzn]

Of course you don't, you'd have to have a heart first........ For a prisoner? um yeah no. Criminal history is constant.

What is the lesson of this story? Don't go to jail or prison.

[notluzn]

Can't say that I'm surprised at your callous attitude.......
Is there something you want to tell us? :)) :)) But you are correct, I care very little if none about people in prison. they'll get out and commit more crimes and will not change. Prison isn't supposed to be fun.

[King Cantona]

Is there something you want to tell us? :)) :)) But you are correct, I care very little if none about people in prison. they'll get out and commit more crimes and will not change. Prison isn't supposed to be fun.

So there's no such thing as rehabilitation? But haven't prisoners been released from prison? How dare the government put us in harm's way, once a criminal always a criminal, get locked up for drunk driving and that's it, that should mean life shouldn't it?...

Just a minor point but I bet you call yourself a Christian don't you? Now that is truly funny.........

Oh the irony........

[notluzn]

So there's no such thing as rehabilitation? But haven't prisoners been released from prison? How dare the government put us in harm's way, once a criminal always a criminal, get locked up for drunk driving and that's it, that should mean life shouldn't it?...

Just a minor point but I bet you call yourself a Christian don't you? Now that is truly funny.........

Oh the irony........No I call myself Jeff. Yeah I believe in God and I think God wants us to keep bad people away from good people. Don't go to jail and prison or you might end up dead. Is that so hard to understand or is it to much for a Liberal?

[King Cantona]

No I call myself Jeff. Yeah I believe in God and I think God wants us to keep bad people away from good people. Don't go to jail and prison or you might end up dead. Is that so hard to understand or is it to much for a Liberal?

You might end up dead? Well yes if your jailers are the penal equivalent of the Keystone cops....

Yes I certainly am liberal, I've got too much of a conscience to be anything else.....

I see that you believe in God, which God I wonder given that the one I believe in is one who urges us to be forgiving....

[brouski]

She wasn't innocent

Neither was she guilty of something deserving a death sentence. In fact, if drugs and prostitution were the only things she was convicted of, those are two things that arguably shouldn't be crimes anyway.

[notluzn]

Do you want me to cry a river? You must worry a lot if you have such a huge conscience. Why don't you visit a prison and tell them it'll be ok and give all those criminals a big fat hug.You might end up dead? Well yes if your jailers are the penal equivalent of the Keystone cops....

Yes I certainly am liberal, I've got too much of a conscience to be anything else.....

I see that you believe in God, which God I wonder given that the one I believe in is one who urges us to be forgiving....

[notluzn]

If I drive 180mph down the freeway and crash into a pole and die, wasn't I doing something wrong?Neither was she guilty of something deserving a death sentence. In fact, if drugs and prostitution were the only things she was convicted of, those are two things that arguably shouldn't be crimes anyway.

[RKing]

Of course you don't, you'd have to have a heart first........
The Wizard will give him one.

[notluzn]

The Wizard will give him one.

I love Dungeons and Dragons. :mrgreen:

[King Cantona]

Do you want me to cry a river? You must worry a lot if you have such a huge conscience. Why don't you visit a prison and tell them it'll be ok and give all those criminals a big fat hug.

Well if I have sympathy (you said you don't) for someone who died because of the criminal negligence of people who were charged with keeping her safely under lock and key then I can hold my head up as a member of the human race...

As you obviously have little or no regard for people you don't know then I can only feel sorry for you and wonder where is your humanity....

[King Cantona]

I love Dungeons and Dragons. :mrgreen:

Why does that not surprise me?....

[StoneScratcher]

No I call myself Jeff. Yeah I believe in God and I think God wants us to keep bad people away from good people. Don't go to jail and prison or you might end up dead. Is that so hard to understand or is it to much for a Liberal?

I dunno about your God.

My God thought the world sucked so bad He decided to go visit the bad people there. So, what He did was send His son, Jesus, right in the midst of all the madness. Among creeps, thieves, whores, murderers...

And then guess what Jesus did when He got here? He went and hung around with lepers, prostitutes, the blind, the sick and those who were pretty messed up.

Like Father like Son...

[gdoane]

Oh, I agree. I can't believe an outdoor cage in Arizona is considered an acceptable place to leave prisoners for several hours in 2009.....I know if I was the prison administrator I think I would have seen this coming a long time ago.

A similar story happened a long time ago and the prison would know about it because the guy who ran the boot camp for wayward teens and cooked a 14-year-old juvenile delinquent to death while making him exercise for discipline wound up getting 6 years in prison for it back in 2004.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05E4DE1F3BF930A15755C0A9639C8B 63

Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, as the old saying goes.

[RKing]

I love Dungeons and Dragons. :mrgreen:
Why does that not surprise me?....
Hey, disrespect for D&D is outta bounds. I am offended. Similar to someone being offended by my previous Avatar.

[notluzn]

Im sure you have that same passion of sympathy for the terrorist at Gitmo. I Have apathy for them.Well if I have sympathy (you said you don't) for someone who died because of the criminal negligence of people who were charged with keeping her safely under lock and key then I can hold my head up as a member of the human race...

As you obviously have little or no regard for people you don't know then I can only feel sorry for you and wonder where is your humanity....

[notluzn]

My God wants me to kill terrorist. I understand what you're saying but I have my opinion of people that make it a habit of staying in jail or prison.I dunno about your God.

My God thought the world sucked so bad He decided to go visit the bad people there. So, what He did was send His son, Jesus, right in the midst of all the madness. Among creeps, thieves, whores, murderers...

And then guess what Jesus did when He got here? He went and hung around with lepers, prostitutes, the blind, the sick and those who were pretty messed up.

Like Father like Son...

[Spiked101]

That is absolutely horrible and I feel so sorry for her. She may have deserved to be in prison, but she did not deserve to die cruelly like that.

[gdoane]

My God wants me to kill terrorist. I understand what you're saying but I have my opinion of people that make it a habit of staying in jail or prison.

I'm usually a total hardcase like that, but this hooker wasn't a terrorist. In fact, the prison thought she was mentally ill which is WHY she was in the holding cell waiting transport to a mental evaluation.

I oppose prostitution myself precisely BECAUSE it victimizes women like this. Recruits to prostitution are often children, homeless, and mentally ill women like I believe this woman was and indeed, like at least one prison official believed she was.

When people call prostitution a "victimless crime" that's a pet peeve of mine and I'll go right off. It's not victimless. I consider it rape using money as the weapon. It victimizes vulnerable people at the end of their ropes.

If I saw her as a hardened criminal then like you, I too would probably hold the opinion that it's no big loss. After all, prison officials couldn't even notify her next of kin because none were on record.

If she weren't mentally ill, then she probably would have asked for help, complained about the heat, attracted attention to her situation but she if she didn't do any of that for the very reason she was in the torturous holding cell in the first place then it's not her fault. She was insane and the guards believed that yet failed to act accordingly.

That's negligence. Negligent homicide.

I want crimes punished too. Including negligent homicide committed under color of authority.

[notluzn]

Oh I see that the Prison messed up for sure. What a weird place for a holding cell with no cover. I don't think that people should go to jail for this accident but maybe a firing. She is a repeat offender and thats where I draw the line.

I'm usually a total hardcase like that, but this hooker wasn't a terrorist. In fact, the prison thought she was mentally ill which is WHY she was in the holding cell waiting transport to a mental evaluation.

I oppose prostitution myself precisely BECAUSE it victimizes women like this. Recruits to prostitution are often children, homeless, and mentally ill women like I believe this woman was and indeed, like at least one prison official believed she was.

When people call prostitution a "victimless crime" that's a pet peeve of mine and I'll go right off. It's not victimless. I consider it rape using money as the weapon. It victimizes vulnerable people at the end of their ropes.

If I saw her as a hardened criminal then like you, I too would probably hold the opinion that it's no big loss. After all, prison officials couldn't even notify her next of kin because none were on record.

If she weren't mentally ill, then she probably would have asked for help, complained about the heat, attracted attention to her situation but she if she didn't do any of that for the very reason she was in the torturous holding cell in the first place then it's not her fault. She was insane and the guards believed that yet failed to act accordingly.

That's negligence. Negligent homicide.

I want crimes punished too. Including negligent homicide committed under color of authority.

[RKing]

When people call prostitution a "victimless crime" that's a pet peeve of mine and I'll go right off. It's not victimless. I consider it rape using money as the weapon. It victimizes vulnerable people at the end of their ropes.
I agree, except when the hooker is a tranny, then the victim role kinda blurrs for me. I'm not sure why.

[gdoane]

Oh I see that the Prison messed up for sure. What a weird place for a holding cell with no cover. I don't think that people should go to jail for this accident but maybe a firing. She is a repeat offender and thats where I draw the line.

Accident? She's in the holding cell because she's believed to be incompetent. She was put out to fend for herself in a deadly situation while waiting for a diagnosis to see if she was actually competent to fend for herself.

We have the diagnosis now. She wasn't capable of caring for herself.

I expect some professionalism from people who take taxpayer money for doing government jobs. Professionalism wasn't apparent in this situation.

Baking the crazy hooker to death is not a defensible course of action. It's not an accident, either. Accidents are unforeseeable. Putting a prisoner in a holding cell knowing the prisoner is mentally ill and without supervision in the Arizona Sun for over four hours in 107° is negligence.

It's dereliction of duty.

These are prison guards. Dereliction of duty is not an option and it's not acceptable.

This time an inmate died. It could be a prison guard just as easily. This lack of due diligence is inexcusable.

[freefallAZ]

Thank you for your humanity. Anyone working with people on psychotropics meds knows that they can't be out in the sun - not even for the two hours "allowed" by ADC policy. Please connect with me (http://prisonabolitionist.blogspot.com/) if you plan to do any real advocacy to assure this doesn't happen again. Mental illness respects no party affiliation, and human rights are as much a concern for many republicans and democrats alike.