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Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin

By Jeralyn, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Wed Jul 20, 2005 at 05:51:44 PM EST
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California death row inmates are alone and locked in their cells 20 of 24 hours a day. So how would one get a syringe and heroin?

A convicted murderer awaiting execution at San Quentin State Prison has died of an apparent heroin overdose -- making him California's first inmate to OD on Death Row.

Michael Camacho, the L.A. deputy district attorney who prosecuted Rodriguez for the 1999 crimes, said the apparent overdose didn't surprise him. Rodriguez had a history of drug use, he said, and drugs are easy to get in prison -- even on Death Row. "The accessibility of narcotics is rampant in the Department of Corrections, even though they would prefer not to admit it,'' Camacho said.

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    Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin | 12 comments (12 topical)
    Re: Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin (none / 0) (#1)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:27 PM EST
    As my father used to say; how can they say they are winning the 'war on drugs' when the are rampant in every prison in america?

    Re: Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin (none / 0) (#2)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:27 PM EST
    The same way "they" lie about everything else: they're simply rotten human beings. I can only excuse so much obliviousness to reality; at some point, ignorance - like that proudly displayed by social conservatives regarding the drug war - is clearly willful.

    Re: Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin (none / 0) (#3)
    by Patrick on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    Hmmm, lemee see, drugs are rampant in prison because...Oh yeah, we've got to be kind to the prisoners, understand how society forced them to do what they did. Understand how they were railroaded because they were a minority, poor, handicapped or whatever.
    Plus, Crittendon said, even Death Row inmates are "entitled to rights of all citizens -- all the rights of phone calls and personal visits.'' In other words, there are many channels for contraband to reach prisoners.
    Add to that the fact that more prisoners on California's death row die of natural causes than are executed and a picture begins to form. This guy was pig. He gets no sympathy from me. Nice of him to do us all a favor. More heroin for death row!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Re: Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin (none / 0) (#4)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    Hmmm, lemee see, drugs are rampant in prison because...Oh yeah, we've got to be kind to the prisoners
    The drugs were not issued by the prison admin, nor prescibed by 'liberals', they were smuggled in by corrupt DOC employees ( AKA cops.) If you can't stop illegal drugs getting into Death Row, you can't stop them from coming into the country. I wouldn't presume to speak for TL, but my point was that if the WOD doesn't work in prisons it can't work on the borders. We need to re-evaluate our policies because they don't work.

    Re: Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin (none / 0) (#5)
    by Patrick on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    they were smuggled in by corrupt DOC employees ( AKA cops.)
    Maybe, but they were more likely smuggled in during, "Contact visits," which were fought for an won by prisoner rights groups. I hardly think those groups were conservative based, but hey, that's just me.

    Re: Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin (none / 0) (#7)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    what has been termed 'contact visit' consists of "An inmate and his/her visitor are allowed to briefly embrace and kiss at the beginning and end of their visit." This doesn't apply to death row. All packages are inspected and letters are read before being allowed into or out of max security of which death row is a subset of, (ask me nicely and I'll draw a Venn diagram for you;-) Personally I have no problem with giving every DR inmate the ability to administer their own hot shot. I do have a problem with cops who lie, smuggle, deal drugs, commit felonies ... etc.

    Re: Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    It never ceases to amaze me....the general public thinks that inmates get conjugal and/or contact visits, unlimited care packages full of knitted socks and chocolate chip cookies, and hand-made curtains for their cells. Ah, but that they could experience the warm cuddlies of prison for themselves. P.S. The major source of drugs in medium/maximum security prisons (in my experience) is guards. In minimum security, they're just dropped off beside the road and the lawm mower guy picks them up and delivers them to their intended recipient..for a fee.

    Re: Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    ytterby wrote: The major source of drugs in medium/maximum security prisons (in my experience) is guards. In minimum security, they're just dropped off beside the road and the lawm mower guy picks them up and delivers them to their intended recipient..for a fee.
    I worked in the Federal Public Defenders Office for years and can vouch for what ytterby says above as being 100% true. The War on Drugs is a failed policy and one that costs taxpayers billions in wasted dollars. Drug abuse should be a medical problem, not a legal one.

    Re: Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin (none / 0) (#10)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    Even decently paid, state employed prison guards can't resist the lure of the fast easy money available in the drug trade.

    Re: Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin (none / 0) (#11)
    by Patrick on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    Amazing the # of people here who "know" how it works inside. Heroin and other drugs are more often smuggled into jails by visitors or mailed in and missed duing the inspection process. I'm not gonna tell the workd how it's done, but if your interested, you can find out. I'm all for cutting max inmates and lifers off completely from the outside world and just housing them, but some here wouldn't think that humane.

    Re: Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    Patrick wrote: Amazing the # of people here who "know" how it works inside.
    Not really. There seems to be a lot of attorneys who post here. And as officers of the court, many attorneys (like the ones I’ve worked for) are often visiting the jails and prisons to represent clients. As a paralegal, I visited prisons and jails all the time to interview clients. One can’t help but learn the way prisons are run or how the prison underground operates. But, I suppose that your statement above was just another example of the general smarminess that you often exude on this board and probably shouldn’t really be taken any more seriously than any of your other comments.

    Re: Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    And there are some of us who aren't lawyers and have seen it from the other side, up close and personal Very up close and personal

    Death Row Inmate OD's on Heroin | 12 comments (12 topical)