On the morning of Sept. 11, 2016, a man in Pennsylvania’s prison at Albion awoke in the grip of excruciating pain.
Dennis ‘Solo’ McKeithan put in a Sick Call slip, and when a duty nurse appeared at his cell door, he exclaimed, “My God! What happened?”
Solo told the nurse that he awoke that way; with a swollen face, his right eye shut. He also said his face was discolored, and pinkish!
That’s especially disturbing because Solo is a Black man, with skin the color of coffee.
Solo said the male nurse told him he thought he knew what Solo was suffering from, but he wouldn’t say. A doctor was needed.
A Physician’s Assistant (or PA) was called, who, taking one look at his face, ordered him sent to a medical facility, where he was given an IV line, and treated for shingles, a nervous disorder that causes unbearable pain. Prescribed an antiviral medication, Solo, once returned to Albion, put in a Sick Call slip for the prison’s Dr. José Boggio.
On Sept. 29, 2016, Solo said the following encounter took place:
“He [Dr. Boggio] came to my door, he say, ‘I’m Dr. Boggio’, so I’m trying to tell him what’s wrong with me. ‘Oh’, he say, ‘Oh, that’s nothing! You need– you need to win the lottery!’ I said, Lottery? I said, ‘What’s wrong with you, man?’ He said, ‘I’m from–I’m from South America. I seen all kinds of stuff!’ I say, ‘What do that got to do with me?'” [_McKeithan v. Clark, Supt., (Notes of Testimony, p.16].
Solo, disgusted with such a response, turned off his cell light, and walked away from the man. Dr. Boggio responded by ordering no more treatment for McKeithan.
In Jan. 2017, Solo, a jailhouse lawyer, filed a Motion for a Preliminary Injunction in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas. On Jan. 17, 2017, a preliminary injunction hearing was held, where Solo testified and also conducted examination of several prison and medical staffers.
The Judge, John Garhart, conducted the hearing and announced he believed that medical diagnosis and treatment, standing outside a locked prison cell door couldn’t be considered a real examination.
At hearing’s end, he issued an injunction, and ordered Solo to be treated by two outside doctors–outside of the prison.
One had to be an internist to examine his shingles.
Solo, jailhouse lawyer, had won.
![Prison Radio is sharing an abbreviated version of a press release covering recent racist incidents at SCI Rockview in PA and the organizing to demand accountability. We are reaching out to people incarcerated at Rockview as well as recently transferred folks, inviting them to call, in hopes of hearing commentaries from them.
Benner Township, PA.-
On November 24th, 2023, imprisoned people at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for many prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hung, they were told it was a joke.
By December 4th, prisoners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates" and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Captain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance.
The sergeant and COs are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions...
As of March 10th, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending 100 copies of the grievance. Copies of the letter also were mailed to Governor Shapiro, Senator Fetterman, Senator Street, and various advocacy groups. The demands for relief in the original grievance have now become the platform of demands for this campaign. About 20 of the 100 letters were withheld by the prison.
Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, flooding the phone lines of DOC offices, assisting with outreach to media, and circulating the stories of prisoners who have found unity in opposition to the facility's virulent institutional racism.
In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, Nicki Paul, the superintendent's assistant and "grievance coordinator" informed the public that they self-investigated their staff and found they did nothing wrong.
Read the full article at i
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