2/ Bell was serving a 16-year sentence for selling cocaine. He had served all but one year when he applied for compassionate release in October 2014 so he could pass away at home.https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/03/07/old-sick-and-dying-in-shackles?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sprout&utm_source=twitter …
-
-
Show this thread
-
3/ Bell’s sister, Denise Littleford, petitioned to get Bell home: “While the blood was still warm in his body, instead of sending him home in a body bag.”https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/03/07/old-sick-and-dying-in-shackles?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sprout&utm_source=twitter …
Show this thread -
4/ Bell’s warden and probation officer signed off on his request, but the final call was up to the Bureau of Prisons. “It would have saved the government so much money, and we had hospice care already set up for him,” Littleford said.https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/03/07/old-sick-and-dying-in-shackles?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sprout&utm_source=twitter …
Show this thread -
5/ Bell’s family had made plans to drive him around the neighborhood to wave farewell and to take him to the local racetrack one last time.https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/03/07/old-sick-and-dying-in-shackles?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sprout&utm_source=twitter …
Show this thread -
6/ But during a visit, Bell’s family was shocked by how much he had already deteriorated. “He looked like he walked out of the ICU, took all the tubes off, and walked into a visiting room,” Littleford said. “We cried all the way home.”https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/03/07/old-sick-and-dying-in-shackles?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sprout&utm_source=twitter …
Show this thread -
7/ Officials ultimately concluded that Bell did not meet medical requirements and had more than 18 months to live. They denied his request for compassionate release.https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/03/07/old-sick-and-dying-in-shackles?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sprout&utm_source=twitter …
Show this thread -
8/ “We just wanted him to die at home,” Littleford said. “But they were determined to get everything they could get out of him.”https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/03/07/old-sick-and-dying-in-shackles?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sprout&utm_source=twitter …
Show this thread -
9/ Littleford didn’t find out Bell had been denied until she was told by a reporter. He passed away just two days after the bureau rejected his request on grounds that he wasn’t ill enough.https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/03/07/old-sick-and-dying-in-shackles?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sprout&utm_source=twitter …
Show this thread -
10/ “They might as well have given him death,” she said. “That’s what they gave him.”https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/03/07/old-sick-and-dying-in-shackles?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sprout&utm_source=twitter …
Show this thread -
11/ Read more about compassionate release in
@cm_thompson3’s investigation, produced in collaboration with@nytimes. /endhttps://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/03/07/old-sick-and-dying-in-shackles?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sprout&utm_source=twitter …Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.