Stop the Deaths and End Medical Neglect

To:  Dr. Susann Steinberg, California Dept. of Corrections, Gov. Gray Davis

Eight more women have died at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) since November 2000. CCWF was just the subject of a 5 year long legal investigation of serious complaints of medical neglect and abuse. It has also been criticized by both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for its failure to provide basic medical care for women prisoners. CCWF has become the death house for all women prisoners. The California Department of Corrections blames these women for their own deaths, claiming they must have used a bad batch of street drugs, but toxicology reports confirm that this is a lie. We know the truth – that women in this prison suffer life-threatening medical neglect and abuse every day.

We demand:

*End the Medical Technical Assistant (MTA) position – guards are not healthcare workers

*Public health oversight of prison medical care, especially in the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) and hospice

*Compassionate release for dying prisoners

*Medical specialists for all women with serious illnesses

*Initiate appropriate emergency response procedures for women in medical crisis

*Conduct a full, independent investigation into these recent deaths and take concrete action to prevent more women from dying

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Stop the Deaths and End Medical Neglect Petition to Dr. Susann Steinberg, California Dept. of Corrections, Gov. Gray Davis was created by HIV in Prison Committee of California Prison Focus and written by Kevin Weaver.  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. The petition scripts are created by Mike Wheeler at Artifice, Inc.  For Technical Support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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