If there was ever a time in my life that the government has left me absolutely clueless on its rhyme or reason, this would have be it.
A man, who is in prison serving a 14-year sentence for robbery, was given a heart transplant on Jan. 3 in San Francisco.
Now I’ve heard of some stupid things that the goverment has done in the past: Imprisoning Japanese-Americans during World War II or selling prisoners’ blood on the open market, but this takes the cake.
Why couldn’t the corrections officials have gotten some common sense and deny the man the right to have the transplant?
A 1976 U.S. Supreme Court ruling declared withholding necessary medical care to inmates a “cruel and unusual punishment.”
The 31-year-old could not be denied.
In 1995, a federal court in another case ordered prison officials to give a kidney transplant to an inmate whose request had been denied.
According to state prison officials, including Russ Heimerich of the California Department of Corrections, as quoted by The Associated Press, as the prison population ages, more transplants and other taxpayer-financed treatments are likely to increase.
The transplant for this one man will cost California taxpayers close to $1 million with follow-up care and therapy.
Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez pointed out the most obvious argument against this.
“You have to wonder if a law-abiding, taxpaying citizen drew one last breath while Jailhouse Joe was getting a second wind,” he wrote.
No one is saying that this prisoner is any less important than the rest of us, but c’mon.
Here’s a guy who committed a crime and was sentenced to jail. He’s in jail. And in jail your rights are confiscated.
So what if the man isn’t eligible for parole until 2008. He was back in jail after being released eight months prior on a buglary conviction.
Even if taxpayers agree that he deserves the transplant, the court should have at least ordered the family to pay the expense.
I don’t want to be cold-hearted (no pun intended) but give the guy a heart, fine, but don’t put him at the top of the list and make his family pay for the transplant.
Simply put, this man had no regard for the public when he commited his crime.? And for that the public should have no regard for him, his health or his welfare.