“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.”
By this measure, our society would be judged harshly. Few folks are aware of the extreme medical abuse and medical atrocities occurring daily in American prisons and jails. This is by design. Through litigation, Prison Lights will one lawsuit at a time shine light into the black box of prisons, jails and their medical contractors.
Mission
The mission of Prison Lights (PLI) is to expose nationwide the black box that is the Prison Industrial Complex with a focus on the fundamental right to critical medical care and nutrition. As PLI shines a light on the many atrocities occurring in our nation’s prisons and jails, it will also educate the public on the true costs to taxpayers of these atrocities which to date have never been
calculated.
To accomplish this goal, PLI will work with litigators and trial attorneys throughout the nation. The goal is to get otherwise reluctant attorneys to take just one case. That’s all it will take to get the nation’s attention and from there the attention of national, state and local politicians.
PLI will provide the foundational support for allied litigators and trial attorneys. This is key to success and will overcome the reluctance
of lawyers to take on these cases. The learning curve is steep and PLI will help pave the way for success for its allied attorneys.
CORPORATE EXPLOITATION OF SOCIETY’S MOST VULNERABLE
Prisons and jails have always been used to exploit folks from communities that already face significant societal challenges. Most believe these are relics of the past. Far from it, prisons and jails serve as warehouses for people of color, the poor, those dealing with mental health or learning issues, and people battling with drugs and alcohol.
These challenges are often multigenerational. Prisons and jails could be tasked with helping prisoners overcome these challenges, breaking generational cycles, changing lives, and providing an actual service to society. At a minimum, they should at least attempt to keep them healthy since health is, for many prisoners, all they have left in the world.
That is not what happens in prisons and jails. Instead, prisons, jails, and their massive corporate medical contractors heap harm upon harm. Rather than utilize the hundreds of millions or billions they receive from states and counties around the country, a small group of prison medical contractors take already suffering, nearly broken individuals, and shatter whatever potential they may have by destroying their health. If you listen closely, you might hear them whistling all the way to the bank.
MEDICAL AND NUTRITIONAL ABUSE
It will surprise many to hear that medical abuse is among the most dangerous aspects of prison. The food is not far behind. This reality is not just dangerous for inmates; it is dangerous for everyone inside the walls. Medical and nutritional abuse leads to sick, malnourished, depressed, and desperate inmates. Is it any surprise really that inmates would lash out on occasion?
They cannot lash out at the prison administrators or the corporate predators they allow in, so they lash out against the correctional officers and other line staff. Violence is virtually inevitable under these conditions. Corporate predators disguised as medical contractors have little concern for the consequences to the inmates, correctional officers, or other staff. Profit alone is king, and actually providing proper medical care eats into the profits.
CHANGE THE FINANCIAL CALCULATIONS
Greed and profit are both the source and the solution to the problem. This costs prisoners and taxpayers alike. The profit calculus must change. Intentional neglect of medical care must become unprofitable. To that end, Prison Lights has the goal of filing suits for medical and nutritional abuse wherever the small group of massive prison contractors do business.
The contractors must understand that whatever profit they derive from intentional and cruel medical abuse will be extracted in the end by lawsuits. States and counties that recklessly hire these medical contractors will need to justify to taxpayers why they’re spending millions to billions on firms that prioritize profits over prisoners’ basic medical needs, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill through Medicaid. They can’t. And this is how things change.
LITIGATE, ILLUMINATE, FORCE CHANGE
This is the mantra and the mission of Prison Lights. Litigation is the only way to open the black box that is the Prison Industrial Complex, especially the medical contractors. The Prison Industrial Complex is a black box and would very much like to keep it that way. This goes doubly for prison medical contractors.
Discovery, the collection of evidence, is the key to lighting up prisons and jails. The medical contractors will fight over every scrap of paper. Prisoners, through their attorneys, must fight tooth and nail every step of the way. It’s not easy, and it’s not cheap. It takes lawyers, paralegals, law clerks, and others to successfully navigate the maze of obstruction. Once it is done, the prisons, jails, and their contractors will be open for all to see. When people see the atrocities committed against an already vulnerable population, Prison Lights believes they will judge the perpetrators very harshly. If that is not enough, and it will not be for many as prisoners are the proverbial out of sight, out of mind, the astronomical costs to the taxpayers may get their attention.
