When James Ware died at 53 earlier this month, he could have been at home or in a hospital room, surrounded by friends and family. Instead, he died alone, under guard in state custody.
Ware, who had been incarcerated since he was 20, was granted medical parole more than two months before he died on April 2. Back in January the Department of Corrections agreed that he was so sick he no longer posed a public safety risk and could die outside the prison system. But the lack of an adequate medical plan and bureaucratic hurdles meant he died as an inmate.
Ware’s lawyer Amy Belger said only a few friends and family were able to see him during his final hours in Lemuel Shattuck Hospital Correctional Unit. Even allowing those few visitors took months of advocacy, she said.
“There is absolutely no justification for denying a person who is terminally ill lying in a hospital bed … visits from their loved ones,” Belger said…