image shows: The Other Man

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One of the things that makes me feel most strongly that it is Farkham Hall time is the inhuman treatment of Death Row prisoners in the USA. One case that springs to mind currently is that of Jody Miles.

Jody Miles is on Death Row. In America, this is not an unusual situation. Jody was sentenced in March 1999 and since then has lived with the uncertainty of knowing that the state of Maryland intended to kill him at a time unspecified. In our comfortable lives, the idea of living with that kind of threat is almost unimaginable. A time-bomb is ticking under your bed and nobody knows when the detonation is set. Try to picture yourself in that situation.

For any human being, just that uncertainty would be enough to push them over the edge into insanity. However, the institutionalised dehumanisation doesn?t stop there.

From Baltimore?s Maryland Correctional Adjustment Centre, Jody has now been moved to North Branch Correctional Institution, in the mountains bordering Virginia. So what? you may say. Well, for a start, there is little to no heating in here and Jody has to pay for his thermal underwear, shoes and other clothes out of the paltry $20 per month he earns.

How does Jody earn this money? He is on the blood spill team. This means that when there is a fight in the prison, or an accident, a ?dirty protest? to put it delicately, or any other incident that spills body fluids, Jody has to clean up the scene, placing him at maximum risk of infection.

One of the commonest causes of contamination is the frequent use of mace in the prison. Not just the regular, innocuous kind that may be used to quell a disturbance on the street, but an altogether more virulent product that stains the skin of the recipient for weeks, burning and irritating. The effect on the cleaner is no less than the effect on the victim.

The prison has television reception, but Jody?s television failed out of its 6 month warranty period. Jody and his family could not afford the repair bill. There is no radio reception, and the only other communication device that was available, a word processor was destroyed by the prison system. Jody has to replace this out of his meagre earnings.

Place yourself in his situation for just a minute. You are condemned to die at a time unspecified. You have no sensory inputs to mollify the unbearable tension this creates. You are cold all the time, you have the most menial, distressing and dangerous job in the place, and no money to buy the essential items that you need from day to day. You have no newspaper, because that would take 60% of your annual earnings.

If enough people send just $5 each, Jody?s time can be made more bearable. Even the ability to watch the news or a game of American Football from time to time can make the world of difference. If you want to make a difference, please just send a money order for $5 or more directly to Jody Lee Miles at NBCI, 14100 McMullen Hwy., SW Cumberland, MD, 21502, USA .

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