Ajax, your decision to fight this situation will not only affect your existence, but the existence of countless others. Thank you for making that spotlight brighter. I think there was a case in Philadelphia concerning a woman who paid the ultimate price for the prison system's lack of regard.
I wrote to the ADA concerning the jail here in Greenville County and a young man who had spent several years as an adolescent in the juvenile "justice" system (he was T1 and when the nurse didn't come in, he didn't get his "shot" for the day) and received information that could be used in a presentation of law enforcement officers.
The problem down here is that too many of these prison guards and jail officers do not care. They are unmotivated to look twice at anything other than their paychecks. There are some good officers, but most down here are corrupted by a corrupt system and dehumanized by their roles.
Only through work that people like you do will there ever be any change. Please let me know if I can dig around into law for you. I'm not a lawyer, but I can do research.
This is the most shocking, downright despicable post I have ever read! I'm glad you've taken action for your rights and that you are okay! By the way, yesterday I checked 14 times out of necessity - checking only 3 times a day is ridiculous. This system has to change!
This is the most shocking, downright despicable post I have ever read! I'm glad you've taken action for your rights and that you are okay! By the way, yesterday I checked 14 times out of necessity - checking only 3 times a day is ridiculous. This system has to change!
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I agree with you Katie. I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since reading it a few days ago when Ajax originally posted it. As he had said, it really sounded like an absolute nightmare and I can't even imagine going through something like that. I couldn't post a message with my feelings then and still can't now, in fear that I will lose it completely and say something I might later on regret.
This is the most shocking, downright despicable post I have ever read! I'm glad you've taken action for your rights and that you are okay! By the way, yesterday I checked 14 times out of necessity - checking only 3 times a day is ridiculous. This system has to change!
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yeah tell me bout it. 3 times a day pfft. with my meter i waste 2 test strips right off the start due to temperature errors. i test 10 times a day sometimes.
That actually happened to a guy i know. He was out drinking with friends and forgot his meter and was feeling low. He decided to drive home and get it, but was stopped at a check point. When he got out of the car the cops started to rough him up alittle because he wasn't all there, being low and having some alcohol in his system. All he wanted to do was to get the the ambulance that was there, but the cops weren't letting him. Finally his wife came and explained that he was a type 1. They finally let him get checked, but it could of turned out alot worse for him. The ploice chief actually asked him to keep the whole thing quiet. He never did pursue any legal complaints. He did get a DUI and learned his lesson from it. Anyway...things like that should never happen to someone with a medical problem, no matter what it is. The police and other public authorities should be trained incase they run into these kind of situations...
I agree with you Katie. I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since reading it a few days ago when Ajax originally posted it. As he had said, it really sounded like an absolute nightmare and I can't even imagine going through something like that. I couldn't post a message with my feelings then and still can't now, in fear that I will lose it completely and say something I might later on regret.
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Yeah, how many times have I said the same thing to myself? Sit on it overnight, write out your thoughts and feelings in a neutral forum (like a Word document that no one else will ever read...I'm up to 153 pages, by the way) , take a deep breath before you post, consider how it may be taken by others. (Taking a deep breath).
It still just pisses me off. I have no doubt about my own capacity for dealing with this type of situation, because when need be I can effectively unleash either The Bitch or The Diplomat to deal with just about any crisis. I've got enough "big word vocabulary" and "innocent compliance" to BS my way through most situations and come out smellin' like a bed of roses. But what about my son? What about those who are incapacitated by a medical condition, or just don't have enough "Rosa Parker" in them to take a stand to protect their own interests? And, why should they have to? Can't we simply agree on a minimal level of education and empathy for our fellow citizens (theoretically we're not "enemies", after all), look beyond the surface presentation, and ask ourselves how we can serve another in each moment? Does it really cost that much to say, "You know, maybe this guy needs just a little more attention, seeing as he has a MEDICAL ALERT BRACELET and all."?
So, now that I've said all that, I have to ask, Ajax, did you get your "one phone call", and if so, who did you call? Come to think of it, who would I call? And, if you didn't get your "one phone call", I'd be calling every lawyer in the yellow pages right now.
Good question! I didn't get one phone call - there was a phone in the holding cell with me, which let you place collect calls. I have three people's numbers memorized - cell phones for my mom, my dad, and my sister. My parents disconnected their house phone, so I couldn't call it. Cell phones (at least theirs) don't accept collect calls.
There was a list of bonds-people's numbers posted outside the cell. I called one of them and asked her to call my mom. She told me to call back in an hour.
I was on vacation with four of my friends, and in a moment of clarity the night before, while cuffed in the back of the police car, I had called one of them. I thought she hadn't been able to hear me, but apparently she had, and the four of them stayed up all night trying to figure out how to get me out and/or get my insulin and meter to me. They actually drove it to the precinct while I was there, but the officers told them I had already been transferred and wouldn't take it from them. So then they drove it to the county prison, where they confirmed that I was on my way to the prison, but still could not get any officer to take my meter/insulin.
Anyway, it was my friends who ended up finding a 250 dollar bond and getting me out. My parents were about ten minutes behind my friends in wiring the money.
Okay, this is pretty scary, considering I can't memorize more than one phone number (my own cell phone number), and that so many people are dropping land-lines in favor of cell-phones, including our own household. If most cell phones don't accept collect calls, that could be a serious problem, and one most people would not even be aware of.
You've got some very dedicated friends, Ajax. It reminds me of my eldest brother who, on his wedding night, spent the entire evening sitting in the Las Vegas jail trying to get his buddy bailed out. I know because I was sitting there with him for HOURS waiting for someone to tell him where his buddy was, why he'd been arrested, and what we needed to do to get him released. And, that was AFTER the AF Base Commander had called the jail to inquire into the status of said buddy and encourage his expedited release. Nice wedding night, eh?
So, when it came time for me to order a Medical ID bracelet for our son (8), I may have gone a little over-board (thanks to being raised an AF brat), but had inscribed: Type 1 Diabetic, Mom's cellphone, Dad's cellphone, Ped Endo's phone number, and Pediatrician's phone number. Maybe I should get one of those bracelets for myself, seeing as how I can't remember my own hubby's phone number :O
Mo
P.S. Is there any legal reason why one cannot use one's one cell-phone under these circumstances? Seeing as how that's where all my contact numbers are stored...
Pay phones are available in most holding cells eliminating the one call rule.
All communications between a prisoner and civilian are subject to monitoring. Many years ago they passed a law that calls coming from a holding facility must be identified. So now pay phones are in the holding cells allowing however many calls you want, but they must be called collect so they are tracked. Calls are restricted to cell phones, because they are mobile, harder for an officer to have a specific location for questioning. You use to be able to ask for an operator when placing the call and have them charge it to your home phone.
Posessions are taken during booking. You can ask to get a number off your cell phone when they take it away. You can call information from the pay phone and then it will place the actual call collect.
If you don't have a doctor who is willing to give you their phone number, almost every doctor I've had lately has an emergency contact number. You call the service and leave a message that your doctor needs to call the facility to give instructions on your care.
Pay phones are available in most holding cells eliminating the one call rule.
All communications between a prisoner and civilian are subject to monitoring. Many years ago they passed a law that calls coming from a holding facility must be identified. So now pay phones are in the holding cells allowing however many calls you want, but they must be called collect so they are tracked. Calls are restricted to cell phones, because they are mobile, harder for an officer to have a specific location for questioning. You use to be able to ask for an operator when placing the call and have them charge it to your home phone.
Posessions are taken during booking. You can ask to get a number off your cell phone when they take it away. You can call information from the pay phone and then it will place the actual call collect.
If you don't have a doctor who is willing to give you their phone number, almost every doctor I've had lately has an emergency contact number. You call the service and leave a message that your doctor needs to call the facility to give instructions on your care.
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Ummmm...I thought the original intent behind the "one phone call" rule was to allow a suspect to communicate confidientially with an individual who could set in motion the process necessary to provide for means of 1) release or 2) legal representation. How is that supposed to happen if all calls are monitored? Or am I just being naive?
Doesn't someone have to be "home" to accept the "charges" in order for a call to be charged to your home phone number, assuming you have one? If you are single and in jail, there's no one at home to accept the charges. If you only have a cell phone, no land line, how is that handled?
And, BTW, when was the last time you answered a call from an "unidentified caller" on your cell or home phone? I don't accept calls unless I know who it's from...thank you very much, telemarkers.
I think it may be time for these "rules" to be updated. Any lawyers on the Forum?
Most phone companies, if you ask, give you a calling card. Usually your phone number plus some additional numbers at the end and then you enter a pin.
It is more a matter of "the things you say can't be used against you" than "confidential." For example, they still monitor visits between suspect and attorney in case the attorney needs to call for help, but they can't use anything they hear.
The calls aren't unidentified. They are identified as whatever facility they are coming from. With a collect call it states "you have a collect call orginiating from Laerdo Couty jail from _____________."
Getting rules changed for prisioners is difficult, because the public tends to think they get what they deserve...until it happens to them.
I would like to help those with Type 1 in our prison system. There is no way they are getting adequate care. If anyone knows how I can help please contact me amysetnicka@ymail.com.