I wonder how many of the prisons denying release on genuine compassionate grounds, are privately owned for-profit prisons; typically "management" at these prisons is charged with maintaining a very low occupancy rate, essentially making sure the cells are always occupied, billing the government for every last cent expended in catering to each occupant.
For-profit, publicly traded prison corporations, are very, very, big business in our everything for profit nation.
Washington Post excerpt and link -
"The two largest for-profit prison companies in the United States – GEO and Corrections Corporation of America – and their associates have funneled more than $10 million to candidates since 1989 and have spent nearly $25 million on lobbying efforts. Meanwhile, these private companies have seen their revenue and market share soar. They now rake in a combined $3.3 billion in annual revenue and the private federal prison population more than doubled between 2000 and 2010, according to a report by the Justice Policy Institute."
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/posteverythi...
9
“indeterminate” Whereas flawed human judgment, toxic hubris, a lack of menschlichkeit, and compassionless power operates boundlessly.
2
The United States tells the world we are a Compasionate Country, and then one reads about things like this. I understand all about those who have been convicted of a crime need to pay the price for their crime. But when one is on a death bed I don't understand why not give their familes some last moments. I don't see how these people are a risk to society on their death bed.
5
I've seen many comments on how deadly meth is and how this person should be so harshly punished as though he killed someone, someone even mentions the youtube video faces of meth in fact meth has been also been spun, and most of us don't realize it's almost identical to adderal, I'm not saying it's not a problem at all, but we need to parse drug war hysteria from real science
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7bdabb/a-neuroscientist-explains-how-...
1
Jail terms for most offences are too long. I believe more people should go to jail but for less time. When youths, drug users and seller are plea bargained or found guilty for 1st offense crimes, they should receive some jail time. Two weeks, one month, six months. The judge could pick the appropriate time for the crime, along with mandatory counseling up on release, and let them know 2nd & 3rd offences will guarantee longer jail sentences. These short sentences will give a taste of life behind bars, too short of a time to get use to, but enough time to think about spending years in prison. Counselors would get a chance to build a profile and maybe guide theses people in a positive direction to benefit society and avoiding future court and prison cost to tax payers. Waiting until there is a third strike and them giving them what amounts to a life sentences only guarantees a bigger prison industry, and an unnecessary drain on taxpayers. It is also self defeating and immoral to not focus on the causes and cures, but then to focus only on imprisoning people beyond their usefulness. Note: There is a small portion of narcissistic sociopaths, among other mental disorders that are a present and future danger to the public should not be released.
2
Trump better hope compassionate release rules and norms loosen, because he’s gonna need ‘em to.
8
Keep a man locked up most of his life and then boot 'em out - without an income, prospects or health insurance - when their health care cost gets to be "inequitable"...read, "end of life expensive"...Man, that's cold - even for the conservatives that's really cold...
4
This comes as no surprise as the prison system in the USA has very little to nothing to do with compassion, rehabilitation and reintroducing those convicted of crimes back into society. Our penal system is all about punishment. We punish criminals, let them out when they've served their sentences and, more often than not, we re-incarcerate them, calling them career criminals. Nothing will change until those running the system declare that it's broken and we discard it. We need to create a new penal system, not change the one we've got. It ain't gonna happen though. As Einstein said, “We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” Sigh!
Maybe the NRA can help us on this one. Yeah, right!
This article highlights two fundamental problems in the US prison system:
1. It is all about the money. Prisons, often privately owned, earn good money for every prisoner, not for released criminals. Four steps are needed to provide compassionate release, for all four groups the easiest solution is to reject a request for compassionate release: they get their money and it does not require an in-depth understanding of the prisoner's situation.
2. Most Western societies have shifted from a punishment system to a system in which criminals are reintegrated into society as research has shown it is cheaper and works better, but not the US. Somehow, in a country where most civilians follow religions that preach about forgiveness, forgiveness does not apply to criminals. Apart from having the largest prison population in the world due to its severe punishments and lack of mental health care, the US also has one of the highest recidivism rates of Western countries.
As Fyodor Dostoevsky already wrote in the 19th century: "The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons." Judging by articles like these, the US still has a long way to go.
7
The lack of compassion in the US is appalling. As one commentator from Australia alluded to, our punishment mentality and vengeful disposition is out of step, not just with the rest of the free world, but with what should be moral guidance, rehabilitation principles and social improvement.
We need to lighten up on the punishment - there is no need to send someone to prison for such lengthly terms. We should not treat children as adults in criminal law; the was a reason the juvenile system was set up in the first place - they are children, not adults. The death penalty serves no purpose except to undermine the morality of our society. Failure to grant parole in so many cases, especially people who have been in prison for such extended periods, and more especially for people who are old or infirm is nothing but cruel.
Only in the rest of the world is our punishment system seen as cruel and unusual.
3
Ironic that he was locked up in a little cell in prison the size of a closet all those years, and now his daughter has his ashes in a little closet at her home.
1
Did we learn nothing from how Norway conducts its prison system?
3
That's why they call it a life sentence.
4
your story doesn't seem to share many details of what this person did to become imprisoned. I see meth sale referenced below and I am wondering how many of his customers died alone and broken? I do not agree that prison is only for protection, I think it is also for punishment and owing a debt to society for threatening the security and safety of those in that society. It is to show those damaged by a person's actions that society cares about the impact on victims as well. I think ill prisoners should be provided the same humane medical care they would get in the outside world. I also wonder if anyone has considered that the cancer might have been brought on by his meth exposure, so I would ask is it society's fault or did he bring it on himself? Meth chemicals are extremely toxic and contain known carcinogens, endangering the producers and anyone they expose in the process. So this was an excellent piece and it brings up a lot of moral issues but I think we need to ask what role his meth sales and production played in his own illness.
5
One thing many readers may not realize is that the majority of federal convictions are reached through plea bargains. Therefore, many of these inmates have done far worse than their official incident offenses may reflect. Remember Al Capone, who plead guilty to tax evasion?
(Although, even he received a compassionate release.)
6
Heartbreaking! Where is the compassion in this society? Tax fraud and drug dealing are clearly true offenses, but do they require incarceration for life? Come on! Again and again I ask myself, what kind of society do we want to live in? This makes me sick.
4
This very sad article made me think of the recent "60 Minutes" piece on the German prison system. Watch if you can -- the focus in Germany is on rehabilitation, education and self-improvement, and it works. They most certainly would not keep a non-violent and dying man locked up to die alone.
6
California also has a large population of prisoners who have been on death row for decades and will probably die in prison of old age.
During these inmates final years taxpayers will still be paying for a team of attorneys trying to get them executed, other attorneys trying to prevent them being executed, doctors trying to prolong their lives so they can be executed, and corrections officers guarding them during the whole process.
1
So many of these sad stories are about people sentenced to long prison terms for selling or making drugs. They should not be incarcerated to begin with! It's a moral outrage that politicians have the power to punish drug use and sales with long prison terms. Using drugs is a personal (though stupid and risky) choice, and there is no legal way to obtain them, unlike tobacco and alcohol, which can also be lethal. When will this horrible drug war end?
3
A lot of prisons have been privatized. They're not government institutions. They're 'for profit" businesses.
Are any of these men in privatized "for profit prisons?" And if so, that must surely feed into the decisions to buttress such cruel, inhumane policies. To deny a dying man the last few weeks/months of his life to spend with family in failed, wretched health is an incredibly spiteful, cruel, self-righteous practice. Only profit or a vengeful "playing God" could support that kind of policy--in practice. Because apparently, it doesn't matter what the policies are, the prison honchos choose to make it up themselves as they go.
I am the first to say justice must be served. And also to say it cannot become a weapon of inhumanity itself or we've lost our own humanity.
3
Your absolutely right,new jersey and the south are full of private prisons that great people like animals and this sick legal system doesn't ever intend to let them out. Our society enjoys destroying people communities unde the marketing belief that we need to be tought on crime. I want to see the executives of these pill mill pharmarcies who have been pushing pain killers going to a private run prison for life they destroed communities for the almighty dollar.
This paper did several articles on private prisons as did Cspan if you want to refresh your memory on this horrific scenario.
3
less than 9% of prisons are private, nice try though
2
I initially find myself in sympathy with the plight of the late Mr. Zeich until I try to imagine the anguish that his methaphetimen caused to those living their normal lives and subject to the violence of those craving the drug.
Meth was a killer drug, for those on both sides.
6
The news show 60 Minutes on CBS did a report on prisons in Germany versus in the U.S. The difference is like night and day. In Germany prisons are set up to maintain human dignity. One man who is serving life got his own key to what looks like a studio apartment. He has a desk he can sit at and compose. Prisoners are taught skills so when they return to society they learned a trade. It's not about making money on human misery. In America some prisons are private so it pays to keep people in prison or make false arrests. We saw that some years ago where a couple judges in Pennsylvania were locking up young people for minor issues only to profit from the people who run the private private system that the teens were sentenced to do time. Who would have thought that at one time England used to hang pickpockets. Punishment for crimes in Europe have sure gone through a major transformation. Yet here politicians want to show they are tough on crime so they destroy lives of prisoners and their families.
4
This one story rebuts the persistent myths of the generosity, the hospitality, the solicitousness, and the Judaeo-Christian values of the American people. Too many of those who serve and/or control our police, corrections, and justice services often possess attitudes and behaviors that resemble more of an authoritarian, autocratic dictatorship than they do of any nation with constitutional and justice values. This is a nation which chooses to "punish" the vulnerable, just because they are vulnerable!
2
Lynne Stewart was convcted of terrorism and sentenced to ten years. She got out after, I think it was two, on compassionate release, being "at death's door," ready for hospice, and lived another two or three years, often in the news, she was. Oddly, I don't see her name in this article.
5
I'm flabbergasted that some people are bringing up Lynne Stewart as someone who should NOT have gotten compassionate release, have we forgotten that her charges were about talking loud and clapping her hands? She was only sentenced to only a few months but was re-setenced just for reassuring her supporters during a speech. She never should have been re-sentenced, God bless her spirit.
2
The purpose of prison should primarily be protecting society from individuals who pray on other people. Retribution should not be the prime reason or even a major reason for incarceration. With that idea in mind, it is easy to say who should stay in prison and who shouldn't. I would venture to say that inmates dying of cancer are no longer a threat to society and regardless of their crimes, once the threat factor is obviated by disease or old age, let them go.
When it comes to criminal justice, America is a vindictive culture. Much of the rest of the western world has moved beyond crime as a moral issue needing biblical retribution (the word penitentiary comes from the word penitent), and approaches it as purely a need to protect the citizens.
40
In order for “ public safety not to be undermined” there is a need for a culture of personal accountability for people’s words and deeds which effect the well being and quality of life. Of each and every fellow human being,
minimizing the infectious consequence of shameless behaviors.Perhaps this writer would consider preparing a second article with the names of these “righteous” public protectors, paid by our taxes, who may be suffering from chronic certitude and perhaps even missing a compassion gene in their DNA.
Criminals prey on people. Preachers pray on people.
1
None of the reasons cited for release are compassionate. They are to reduce the financial burden on the prison system. Of course the person will still need treatment so that burden is just transferred or the person is not properly treated while on the outside at all. Says a lot about our country and none of it is good.
21
Selling Meth is a small offense? In my line of work I have seen newborns born addicted and going through withdrawals. They are often taken away from their parents to be put into the foster system. We then pay for their medical costs. I have seen children sexually abused and violently because their bio family are using the drug.
I have seen domestic violence fueled by the drug. I have seen people going crazy from heavy and long usage of the drug I have seen how they lost everything and have become homeless. I have witnessed women prostituting themselves for this drug and not only beaten, but raped by their dealers. I have seen how these users succumb to stealing and any other means to pay for the drug.
No, it isn’t a small offense. They don’t deserve any compassion for breaking the law. And shame on you for presenting it as cost effective, these people in turn turn to welfare and county programs to pay for their medical costs. So as tax paying, honorable citizens, we are still footing the bill.
Let them serve their complete sentence that is what our justice system is about.
46
so if that addicted baby grows up and has a drug problem and sells drugs to support their habbit now they are no longer deserving of compassion. We foot the bills for lots of things we don't want to, here in NYC we are footing the bill for trump to have a golf course in the Bronx, why? I don't know. By the way how is this lock them up and ask questions later working out for you in terms of preventing addiction? Not too well, it seems.
4
And if, and when, you face a final judgment will your own list if human flaws, and their temporary and more permanent consequences, be long or short? Forgivable or not? What role do you choose to play in our daily, WE-THEY culture, which enables the violating of selected “the other,” and justifying it without any personal accountability.
4
... unfortunate, however, that the justice system
does not seem to deter people from committing
drug crimes by supplying drugs.
And what about the demand side of the equation?
What does "life in prison with no chance of parole" mean if there is any chance that the prisoner will be granted "compassionate release?"
As for someone who received a 27 year sentence for a mere "drug crime" I suspect there is a lot more to it. Plea bargains let felons who likely committed violent crimes agree to lesser charges, so the length of the sentence is a better indicator of the severity of the crime than the actual charge.
9
Build a federal geriatric / palliative care prison.
Very low risk prisoners could be companions / practical nurses to the prisoner-patients.
18
Compassionate release ignores the victims. Murderers should never get out because their victims were given a death sentence by the convict. I don't care how much the inmate is suffering. Drug dealers have helped to destroy many lives. Why should they receive consideration? White collar crimes can also destroy the lives of the victims. Again, why should they receive any favors when their victims are still suffering. If they couldn't do the time, they shouldn't have committed the crime. Let them stay where they belong, in prison.
16
See the recent 60 Minutes episode on prisons in Germany. They have a totally different mindset and approach. We have more prisoners in prisons that any other country including China. All that money to keep people locked up but not enough to pay teachers in a state like West Virginia. How about spending some of that money on teaching people a trade and acquire meaningful skills to live productive lives? That will go a long way to cut down on recidivism and the annual prison budgets.
2
@Wayne- Germany is a different country. They have different social norms. I often read of a murderers getting 8-12 years for their crimes. How can anyone think this is right? Even the mass murderer in Norway is going to get out. They have to pay people to socialize with him.
There is no such thing as a non-violent crime. The victim may not have been physically injured but suffer mental anguish about a burglary, a picked pocket, or embezzlement in a white-collar crime. I don't care about the feelings of a convict. The victim is still suffering so the convict should too. I am sick of these stories where the convict is portrayed as the victim of an abusive society. In Angola prison, some of the convicts studied mortuary science so they could care for their dead. That should be the norm.
2
S.L where is the violence in tax fraud? It's a federal prison so it's safe to say he defrauded the IRS. Irwin Schiff is 87 years old and dying. He was unconscious and on a respirator, Yet cuffed to his bed and under 24-hour watch by an armed guard. Have a heart. Don't you see his two grand kids in the picture? Wouldn't it be better if he died at home with them around him?
Germany is different because they offer free college to the top 10% high school graduates. Imagine living in a country where you can graduate college without being in debt over $100,000? Another thing too they offer trade schools because they know not everyone is capable or smart enough to go to college. You mention Norway their prisons look like country clubs. I think what you fail to realize is that our society creates some of its own problems. And we put money ahead of people. Money for prisons but none for education. Lots of money for incessant wars but none for trade schools. When I was a teenager we had trade schools in NYC. Students would graduate and job recruiters would come to the schools to recruit. Albany changed all that. It's all trade schools like the Allen School, ASA College, etc. Some students end up with loans they can't repay or drop out.
1
And they would be released to whom?
With little or no ability to work, upon whom or which agencies would the burden of caring for these poor, once misguided souls?
8
All the inmates mentioned here had relatives ready and willing to take care of them: A daughter, a sister, and a son, What's more, the article says that inmates are released under these conditions: "To win approval, an inmate must get the blessing of the prison warden, and must have an acceptable home waiting."
2
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) is a heartless sham. Not simply what it represents but the way it administers its business overall. I will not bore you with war stories but can say I spent five years 'up close and personal' with the BOP as an inmate and observed many what can only be defined as administrative horror stories. This is not about the guilt or innocence of a person, or the danger they may represent, or their 'just desert' for crimes. NO. This is about how this branch of American government functions ... or simply fails to function.
If the office of the President can fail to be accountable, just think about the 'punishment industry!!' A 'business' that has one singular objective: to keep people in a cage. Ways and means are basically a power and control trip; and it is absolute ... independent of justice or rational decision-making. A primary result is how the inmate typically views society and government upon exit: the world is the enemy, because they know, first-hand how absurd and cold blooded the BOP is to its core.
It is a huge industry with a universal cause: do as little as possible!! In most cases staff despises the inmate population, NOT due to their social class or criminal history, but based simply for having to stand up and open a locked door to permit an inmate's passage through it. I'm serious ... if the 'correctional staff' could clock in, sleep for eight hours and go home, they would!!
12
As long as the prison system is profit driven, cruel and unusual punishments will befall non-violent offenders.
This sham is a horrific shame.
23
reply to Sarah, Dallas, TX
And as long as the GOP controls Congress and the President (such as the current one is), there will be private prisons. To satisfy the GOP base, of course.
Money is the driving force, appropriate humane treatment of incarcerated persons is pretty low on the list in these private lockups.
1
Wow. An actual thoughtful article from the NYTimes on something someone besides an SJW might care about. Sometimes people are released on compassionate grounds as is right and just in a society such as our own. I suspect the Bureau of Prisons is filled with cowardly people averse to the slightest risk even if it means they are not doing their jobs. Why have compassionate release on the table if you aren't willing to risk using it?
More articles on the prisons would be great because there are many injustices and no light on them. They are a vulnerable population in that respect. Good article.
15
Many years ago when I was practicing criminal law in the Oakland I had a client who was in state prison for sex with [teenage] minors. Force or violence was not involved. He was dying of metastatic cancer and was bedridden and posed no danger to anyone. He was within six months of death,which was the standard for compassionate leave at the time. No state official even responded to the application.
1
No compassion for drug dealers I guess. The fact that so many prisoners are still in there for many YEARS for non-violent drug related crimes says more about the profit from prisons than anything else. The war on drugs has failed. Prisons are filled with young Black and Brown people, many who are there for non-violent offenses. The fabric of the communities of these young people is being torn apart by greed and an unjust justice system throwing dispropinate numbers into prison. Prisons do no good for society, except warehousing many people without a thought of rehabilitation for them. The inability of the Bureau of Prisons to see these people as human is very disturbing and unjust.
12
I weep for the cruelty evident in these stories.
Clearly, the Bureau of Prisons is staffed by individuals who, in their lack of any humanity, are more of a danger to society than those they profess to protect us from.
17
As a healthcare provider who deals directly with the ravages of the meth epidemic I would support life sentences for all people convicted of selling this destructive poison. The same for selling heroin. There may be no way to eliminate sales of these poisons completely but even hardened dealers would think twice about a life sentence. While I agree with the overall spirit of the article selling a product that strips away the humanity of another person deserves no compassion. Anyone who has had a loved one addicted to these poisons will attest to the absolute destruction they cause. A person that chooses to sell them knowing full well what they will do to another human being in any amount was a poor choice to illustrate how this country has turned into a prison state. They are the definition of premeditated murderers.
24
... why all the focus/blame on the person who sells?
doesn't the person who buys know that certain substances
might be more life-threatening than, say, a piece of candy,
a cigarette, or a glass of alcohol?
drug consumption has been on the rise around the globe.
what is it that makes hard drugs so tempting,
or life more & more unbearable for millions w/o them?
2
I disagree. Adamantly. I've been there, done that. With a loved one hooked on a horrible drug for years. That was many years ago. And I am grateful for there but for the Grace of God, go I, to an embittered shell of a person demanding unlimited revenge on the dealer, and my loved one, to the end of life. We both survived.
Another piece of this is that a person is responsible for the decision tot take drugs. And perhaps it's accepting that, that makes it possible to not allow the experience to destroy one's humanity.
2
The tears are running down my cheeks. I don't even think any of the crimes you describe deserve one day in prison. Prison should be for violent people, in their violent years, and still they should be treated well in our care.
Neither our laws, nor the prison officials who administer them represent the people of this country. Prison guards and police represent a violent sector of our population. Those who own or run private prisons have a mean mentality.
Ley people die at home. Even in the hospital, they are often tied to beds "so they won't hurt themselves."
Who are we?
65
You don't think those who commit non-violent crimes should be in jail? Where exactly should they be? I agree that compassionate release may be appropriate for certain people but just because crimes are "white-collar" doesn't mean they aren't destructive to society.
15
Define non-violent. Would you include the violent result of “non-violent” crimes such as countless deaths from drug pushing?
4
Those who impose the cruel policies of those "administering" justice are more soulless than the prisoners, God help them.
3
Same deal in New York State which also has a "medical parole" law which allows the prison agency DOCCS to release dying or very sick prisoners.
Assigned by a prisoners' rights pro bono agency, I successfully obtained medical parole for an elderly prisoner, but in the process learned that this is next to impossible and very rare, like the federal BoP agency discussed in this article.
The releases have to be approved by the Board of Parole, political appointees that are independent from DOCCS and the Governor's Office. Most are holdover appointees of the Gov. Pataki era who are "tough on crime" and traumatized by Willie Horton politics .
In my inmate's hearings, the BoP ridiculed my client and argued with him about his original crime (the number of victims of his non-violent financial fraud) and supposed lack of remorse. No consideration of the medical issues whatsover.
The letters from the prison authorities were scoffed at, and one BoP member sneered that the recommendation letter from the DOCCS Deputy Commissioner for Medical Affairs should be ignored because he "was not a real doctor" (the BoP member had apparently confused Dr. "X" with a previous appointee).
Ironically, this incidental insult may have been the reason that my client was released to die with his family less than a year later. I'm told Dr." X" was furious with the BoP member's ridiculous insult when it got back to him and personally interceded to secure my client's release.
16
More likely, they considered the fact that his crime was financially related rather than drugs or violence. I'm sure there is a HUGE backlog of these cases that they have to wade through. If some lawyers would stop taking the Ridiculous ones, maybe things would speed up for the others.
A moving article, to be sure, as confirmed by opinions expressed. But it gives only the one-sided activists' / advocates' view, perhaps not the whole truth so we can develop an informed opinion as NYT readers.
"[...] due to Petitioner's criminal history, he should be sentenced [...] to 327 months in custody with ten years of supervised release."
https://www.leagle.com/decision/infdco20141112910https://www.leagle.com/...
The average sentence for methamphetamine trafficking offenders is 87 months: https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/q... .
I'm not sure this was a small-time player. The aim of prison is not only to keep criminals separated from society. It is also for them to pay for crimes. How many people died because of this man's actions?
I oppose the death penalty, and the best way to oppose that is to be for prison sentences (incuding life sentences) to be fully served, including until the end of life. Let the professionals decide otherwise, on a case -by-case basis.
I reserve my compassion for even marginally worthier causes.
If the argument is a financial one, that is another matter.
11
Even that is wrong. These people don’t walk out with health or life insurance. The taxpayers end up footing their medical, welfare and burial costs.
4
I have a simple question. Who makes money from prisons keeping these frail, elderly inmates? Who is getting the benefit of the $1.3 billion annual spending on health care by the Bureau of Prisons? Because that is most likely the reason why these releases are so rarely granted.
I am not swayed much by the appeals of inmates just because they are old and sick -- someone who dealt meth has inflicted untold harm on many other people's lives, including the families and children of his customers. But there have to be more inmates for whom compassionate release is both merciful and just.
14
Have you read the paper lately? Exactly who is being arrested for drugs in Small Town USA? Guess Who? They are over half of the time over 40 years old! Not Children. They knew better when they did it. You think being terminally ill is going to change their Morals? They will have an operation up and running before they even pass the gates.
1
The point is that without compassionate release, any sentence -- whether six months or 20 years -- can become a life sentence, or even a death sentence.
Imagine being convicted of an offense that doesn't involve physical violence and that you're then sentenced to five years in prison. Perhaps your guilty. Perhaps your innocent. But for this example, let's say you're guilty. While imprisoned, you develop a normally curable cancer. But since the cancer isn't diagnosed until it's stage four (prison systems aren't known for the excellence of their health care), the cancer that could have been cured becomes incurable. As a result, you die in year five of your five year prison term.
That's known as cruel and unusual punishment, and the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits it. It's not what people think of when they think of the criminal justice system. But it happens all the time. And it's not just the inmates who suffer. It's also the family -- children, grandchildren, spouses, siblings, parents.
18
Maybe they shouldn't have done what put them in jail in the first place. As someone with family members who have been victimized be the likes of some of these prisoners, there is little compassion here.
23
it may be a bitter truth but
supply goes with demand.
those who buy might need just
as much help as those who sell.
"Roughly half of those who died in prison were convicted of non-violent fraud or of drug crimes"
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics the U.S. has about 4.4 percent of the world's population and about 22 percent of the world's prison population.
This is a condemnation of our society's insane preoccupation with mindless materialism and the almighty dollar, and our ridiculously out-of-date drug laws that ignore the modern approach to drugs and addition that exist in other, more progressive, Western countries.
This is "who we are" until we can intelligently and truthfully address the actual reasons for our mass incarceration of our fellow citizens. How shameful.
13
What some call "non-violent" others call "pushing". If they were not there supplying, then their loved ones might still be around. js
1
How does this work? Either the Prison System pays for their healthcare at the end, or the Taxpayers pick up the costs in other ways once these people are out in the community. The Community Option likely costs far more.
All about money? Why? The release option is almost certainly far more expensive...
3
It's unlikely "the community" will end up paying for it since there really aren't many programs that will rush in to take them.
2
If they are over 65 they would be eligible for medicare like anyone else upon release.A community option would be less expensive.Why did the federal system do away with probation? Even using electronic monitering would be less expensive.
The taxpayer is paying if they stay in prison. The taxpayer may pay if they are on the "outside" absent family means. But it appears for most of these prisoners, the care would be palliative -- which the family receiving them may be equipped to provide.
Compassionate, sensible and humane are not the priority of prisons. That anyone would expect humane, rational, compassionate conduct on the part of a prison, police department, or jail, or anywhere in the criminal justice system, is unfamiliar with these systems and the people who work in them. The prison and jail system are self serving institutions: a person in a prison is a paycheck, from the people who work with the prisoners to the owners of private, for profit, prisons. Whether or not one thinks that compassionate release is warranted is another question entirely. If one believes that one should be in prison, for the full length of their sentence, regardless of mitigating factors, that's fine. But if there is a mechanism for compassionate release, then the rules that pertain to qualifying individuals should be respected. To not do so is sort of Kafkaesque.
My experience with prisons includes that police, correction officers, prison administrators, etc., include a high proportion of sadistic individuals, stupid individuals, who make stupid decisions. Many - most - of these people will do anything provided that they were told to do it as a matter of policy or the order of as supervisor, etc. People in these positions are not in the usually brave, ethical, kind, sensible or original thinkers.
12
I have mixed emotion about early release for a man who sold enough meth to get 27 years. Just type “meth addict” into Google and select images. Meth has made walking, sore-infested zombies out of beautiful people. Selling it for profit is a crime of unspeakable violence. That being said, a little forgiveness and compassion for a dying man is not too much to ask.
15
There's no profit unless there are willing customers. Maybe the customers (the zombies) should be hospitalized so they're not on the streets looking for dealers, day after day............
Sometimes... Maybe it is.
1
Shame on us! Were we always so hearless?
4
I am TIRED of the lack of true compassion in the US medical systems and the justice, legislative and executive branches of government on ALL levels. SO because they are poor, used to commit crimes and now are too sick to even think about committing them, and have lived a large portion of their lifetimes in jail or prison, they don't deserve compassion.
Our country has lost its way and this isn't about Religious beliefs or where or how people choose to worship. In fact, it might be that the belief that Compassion and other types of actions and feelings towards others have taken a big hit because people believe they belong in houses of worship.
They don't! They belong in our laws on every level, in our neighborhoods, in our schools and in our hearts.
Certain crimes need to be sentenced to the fullest extent of the law and the criminal who commit them should be held there for the full time. SO, let older non-violent criminals out before they die so that they have a chance to make a few reparations before they are totally gone.
72
If this is not a reflection of a runaway inhumane incarceration and “justice” system I don’t know what is. Justice is the USA is a terrible joke for a developed society. Increasingly, and justifiably, trust in the system has collapsed. Family court, criminal court, substance abuse, it almost doesn’t matter where you look the system is dysfunctional, inhumane and harms people....
6
There is no doubt that, to the Bureau of Prisons, prisoners are nothing but numbered objects in a warehouse. Don't ask for anything more nuanced than that because it won't happen.
6
We need to do some soul-searching as a nation. What kind of people do we want to be? How do we treat rehabilitate those who need rehabilitation? How do we seek the betterment of every citizen?
10
Not to say that I'm compassionate when it comes to letting very bad people die outside of prison.
But when it comes to incarceration, the United States has NEVER been compassionate to any prisoner.
Ever.
6
Should someone convicted of dealing meth be sentenced to 27 years in prison? There are violent criminals sentenced to less harsh punishment. This article lays bare more than just the inhumanity evident in these cases. It also exposes the ridiculous sentencing guidelines in this country. And if Jeff Sessions has his way don't be surprised to see even more punitive sentencing for drug offenses.
4
My suggestion is that you take a look at the toll that meth takes on the lives of the users, their families, and the communities. Does the meth user use a gun to commit violence? NO, but he none the less kills people and destroys families. He does it for profit or to support his own habit. I don't support long term incarceration but I certainly don't view drug dealing as harmless or "victimless" or even nonviolent. To assert s0 would be naieve and to base public policy on such a proposition would be reckless and deadly.
1
The FBOP has lost its alleged mind. Not exactly news.
6
Been there in the BOP. I use to write federal motions to compel treatment for hepatitis for fellow inmates which was always denied for the unstated reason that it was expensive. Invariably my friends died during the protracted litigation..which is by design. Death is much cheaper than treatment.
8
Notice this article doesn't mention the reasons they were sentenced to life in the first place. Perhaps if they had not chosen to rape, murder, they would not be where they deserve to be.
4
Actually I noticed the fact that your reading comprehension is awful. The article itself notes that many of these “offenders” are in for nonviolent offenses including drugs and fraud. The so-called war on drugs sure has worked!
My advice to you: read more, speak less. Learn.
3
Read it again. It does actually say what each one did.
4
This article clearly lists the crimes of all the individuals mentioned. None were rapists or murderers. Obviously you didn't read it.
3
Seems that Congress should be able to do something about this. Inmates who are terminally ill and/or very elderly should be released if they have family that wants to care for them and they are deemed not dangerous. Who runs the Bureau of Prisons,? People on their death beds and in their 80s are not a danger.
6
This is about money, nothing else. Sincere advocates want Maine justice and of course less medical costs to the taxpayer. The Corrections Union wants maximum staffing and high wages because of "Stress" issues in a prison. Every institution eventually becomes self serving. The states have started to realize that prisons become expensive as staff demands "More" money every year and use care tactics to justify it. Keeping sickly elderly men locked up is profit intensive. Politically it plays well to a public that is warned an 80 year old on a ventilator is just as dangerous as a 19 year old gang banger! Eventually everyone gets wise to the game.
67
That's capitalism for you - free enterprise at its best.Making money is good. Just look at the big guy in the president's office.
5
You know what you are talking about, Mr. Fairbanks. The private, for-profit facilities represent the biggest racket. I'd not be surprised to learn Trump has stock in a few.
4
You have it backwards. If it was all about saving money, they would be releasing inmates left and right as soon as they got a serious diagnosis. With the aging population - not to mention the unhealthy histories of many inmates - the medical costs of keeping them incarcerated are enormous.
1
I was particularly impressed with the case of Mr. Schiff. Unconscious, shackled to his bed, and under 24 hour armed guard for TAX FRAUD. If that’s the way the system works, then let’s be consistent and insure that if (or when?) Cheetos Jesus, his kids, and associates are convicted (or plead) to the same or similar offenses (like money laundering) that they all receive the same treatment.
168
What an ignominious ending, thanks to the Bureau of Prisons. Schiff was a Don Quixote-like figure who challenged the income tax and refused to pay, apparently for reasons of conscience. Though one may disagree with his objections, such a long sentence and a cruel demise is disgusting and disgraceful.
6
Agree, but you know it won't happen that way.
1
Indeed! The cruelty of these soulless policies is incomprehensible. This one was one of the worst. And most obvious that it's all about profit and self-justification.
2
In what way does releasing severely ill patients save money on their healthcare? I see no statistics in the article comparing the cost of treating them within the prison versus the cost to Medicaid of a nursing home and skilled medical care.
26
Agreed. A glaring omission.
1
If terminally ill prisoners were to be released, how would their healthcare be paid? I'm assuming Medicaid?
Regardless of costs, the main question is the purpose of prisons and whether or not they should punish or rehabilitate.
I'm also curious about the lack of parole boards in this - wouldn't they be more able to apply some standards and evaluate whether or not a release is warranted (assuming timely review is possible)?
10
No parole in federal prison system since 1984
All prisons should rehabilitate; all rehabilitated prisoners should be released. All who are released should be eligible for voting rights, gainful employment, and reunion with family. End of issue.
3
Odd article. The presumption is that the taxpayer is going to be off the hook if they are released but instead it will just be a different pocket.
27
For one, quality of care ... if that matters to you. Would you rather die in a concrete cage or a free world hospice?? Alone or with family? Treated like a worthless piece of road kill or a human being? Setting aside your mental vision of what this patient has "done" ... do you advocate for cruelty? Is that who and what you are??
5
Keep those for profit prisons full, and all those high paying guard jobs
humming along..........everyone is happy
47
The more prisoners, the more guards. the more boodle for everybody. Prisons are boodle machines
29
A 'life' sentence implies imprisonment until death. Letting selected inmates out to save costs or letting some out because 'it's the right thing to do' is in fundamental conflict with the sentence imposed upon the inmate.
Discussions about health care costs or compassion or prison unions' employment levels are separate issues. If the sentence imposed is 'life until incapacity to function in a manner that would be a risk to society' -- OK. Otherwise, no.
20
States and governors use a number of different ways to define a life sentence. Like most anything in the justice system, it’s inconsistent.
1
Well, think of it as after-the-fact sentencing reform.
1
In a civilized society, your lust for maximizing punishment unto death would be outweighed by common decency.
2
To understand this issue, we *must* disentangle the two ostensible issues involved: showing compassion for the terminally ill, and saving government money on health care for the inmates. When advocates for any policy combine altruistic rhetoric with the actuality of increasing profits or saving money, suspicions are not only justified but necessary.
That said, even the United States would provide some health care to the sick and dying released inmates, and this would have costs of its own. We have not quite arrived at the "bring out your dead" situation, when public assistance is reduced to throwing carcasses on carts. Part of the question, of course, is which bureaucracy bears the costs.
Complicating things further, the public spends tens of thousands of dollars per year for each maximum security prisoner kept in a cage, even without considering medical expenses. This is far more than we spend helping at-risk children, who are in effect left to die for lack of life's necessities.
10
We so hate rule-breakers, even non-violent ones, that we are willing to have them die sick in prison away from loving and innocent family members. A truly hateful society we live in.
140
But what about all those innocent family members of the prisoner's victims? Don't they deserve some peace of mind that the perpetrators of crimes against their loved ones would at least serve out a full sentence and not get off on "compassionate release" just because they happened to fall ill?
2
This is all too heartbreaking when people like those involved w serious crimes should be in jail like those enabling Nasser and those only w tax fraud are dying in prison. Trump should be in prison and yet taxpayers pay millions of dollars for him to play golf. How can...when will ... our archaic prison system be reformed. It makes me think of the lunatic asylums of days gone by...in humane.
36
To me, there should be a sharp demarcation between violent and non-violent crimes.
50
I'd hate to be that one "mistake."
3
The least repeated felony crime is murder / manslaughter. Theft is #1.
1
I wonder if he showed compassion toward the many people who's lives he wrecked dealing meth? Why do people deserve to end their lives on the outside?
36
At the risk of appearing cold, callous and uncaring, these individuals are in federal prisons, not a Salvation Army or Red Cross facility. They committed the crime, were sentenced to do the time, and now, even though some of these individuals got a tough break and are suffering from a terminal or devastating illness, that's unfortunate but they were handed a sentence for prison time. Period.
How many innocent homeless people are out there, trying to survive, living under bridge viaducts, parks, alleyways, subway tunnels, etc. and are in as bad or worse shape than these convicts with NO health care or hot meals or medication or even a warm bed to lie in and be safe from the elements or unknown risk factors?
Sorry, but I tend to have more empathy for homeless individuals than convicts, especially the convicts who are blessed to have family members visit them often and tell them how much they are loved. These terminal convicts may not die in their loved ones' home, but at least they won't die in pain, fear or feeling unloved like so many homeless and forgotten veterans.
77
Wonder how many of them were falsely accused and convicted. As long as there is any possibility that a person could be innocent, I'm all for the humane decision.
5
Extremely valid point for there have been many instances of individuals being wrongly accused and imprisoned. But the cases described in this particular article did not mentioned nor address that issue, so I can only assume these particular convicts were really guilty. But I could be mistaken.
2
I'm not willing to give "compassionate release" to a sick inmate just because there "may be" a distant possibility they are "innocent." It just doesn't work that way. There are appeals and judges for that--which should be pursued if the person is truly innocent. However, there shouldn't be willy-nilly release of whomever.
2
Interesting that many of the cases mentioned in the article occurred on President Obama's watch. I guess lack of compassion is not limited to Republicans.
Also interesting is that all of the pictures in the article are of white people. Not sure what that means, except that I won't read comments about the Bureau of Prisons being a collection of racist bureaucrats without a heart. Enough for them to be bureaucrats without a heart.
13
Just because no photographs of people of color illustrated the article does not mean that all of the incarcerated people mentioned in it are white.
2
I would love to support compassionate release but:
1. They din't have compassion while committing the crime(s)
2. We can't be certain this won't be abused by not-so-truth telling felons
3. Terminally ill will die either way. In prison they have constant care.
17
While I do agree that you “reap what you sow.” I did look up Kevin’s sentence. He was distributing Meth in the 90s, it would be highly unlikely that he’d be able to go back to the streets in his terminally ill condition. I think there is a fine line ethically keeping someone in his condition away from proper end of life hospice and family. In his case, he wasn’t sentenced to a lifetime in prison so I think a compassionate release would be fair.
5
Several points to further this discussion (by no means an exhaustive list):
1) Prisons and their hellish conditions (including being handcuffed to hospital beds) are designed as deterrents and punishment.
2) Prisons are a holding area for dangerous criminals, created to protect the public.
3) Prisons are different that county/municipal jails and operate under a different set of guidelines.
4) Typically, only felons go to prison, meaning the crime was a level society deems particularly egregious.
5) Rehabilitation of prisoners is key to future prevention of crimes.
6) Proper treatment of prisoners is one of many keys to rehabilitation.
7) Criminals remain humans and members of our society.
8) All of this must be considered against the impact that each of these components has against the victim of the crime. Drug crimes and other crimes against the state/society can often be amorphous, so the term "victim" here needs to be considered more broadly (ie, how opiate dealers exacerbate the opioid epidemic, or how large scale cocaine dealing operations invariably involve a vast array of other crimes besides narcotic sales).
In short: this article is but a small piece of the discussion. The broad picture of prison reform is far, far more complex, because the underlying issues are very, very complex. I hope everyone, including those frustrated by this article or because of this article, takes the time to consider all the sides.
26
So well said! Educating prisoners and preparing them for the "outside" would go a long way, too!
7
Preparing them for the outside, you suggest. Nice words, nice thoughts but you completely miss what prisons see themselves as being in business for. There is NO positive objective ... prisons are psycho-social slaughter houses where one's mind and soul are cut to pieces for the purpose of absolute power and control.
2
The major driver in this issue in California is the Correctional Officers Union, who are very concerned with preserving staff levels and overtime and oppose anything that might decrease either of these.
29
Fbfb, why would releasing a few old and sick prisoners leave a facility short-staffed? More likely the opposite.
If it seems like there's a lack of compassion for these inmates, just remember that the wheels of the prison industrial complex need to keep turning.
19
But these inmates showed no compassion for their victims. So I don’t know what the fair thing to do is.
12
Some of these inmates are in jail for tax evasion and similar crimes. Compassion for the tax man?
14
But when is one considered properly punished? It is so objective. Sentences for the same crime vary so greatly that it is a big conundrum as to when one has "served his/her time".
3
Part of the problem is that the people in charge of reviewing the cases for early release, work for the prison system and they have a vested interested in having as many prisoners as possible to provide as many high paying jobs for guards. The other advantage for the prison system is that these prisoners are very low risk, so they provide very safe jobs for favored guards. I wsorked in EMS for years and went into a couple of different nursing homes that handled sick prisoners. Many of these prisoners were on ventilators with at least one IV line, yet they were guarded my two armed guards (so 6 men for 24 hour coverage with extra guards needed to cover vacations and sick day by the guards). My understanding is that federal guards cost over 100K each. Some of these prisoners were under this care for months or years.
It would not surprise me if the families of many of these prisoners had asked for early release but then 6 guards would loose their super easy assignments.
What needs to happen is that the decision to release these prisoners be moved to a person or persons that are not beholding to the prison system, but can more fairly review each prisoners cost/benefit/risk.
If some one committed a violent crime 5 years ago and is now 70 yo have they paid their debt to society, most likely not. But if it was a nonviolent crime 20-30 years ago and they are now ill, are they likely to reoffend, if put on probation? Most likely not.
48
What a mind-wrecking job that guard position sounds like. Why would someone want it? For a State House sinecure job, you at least don't have to show up. These guys do.
Twenty-seven years for dealing meth? That lengthy a sentence is reserved for those convicted of aggravated, premeditated murder here. This story speaks to a much larger problem that you have in the USA - locking people up for multiple decades, out of all proportion with their crimes.
215
Though this story was focused on a particular person, there are countless other stories that need examination. When will the US adopt at least some semblance of humane incarceration ---and more than that---some attempt at rehabilitation?
19
I immediately thought the same.
1
Likely some of his customers died, so the sentence seems appropriate.
5
When did our country become so cold and cruel?
63
@Sally --
Oh, somewhere around 1776.
9
From the moment the first settlers landed on Plymouth Rock or hadn't you heard?
4
Sally: the moment the pelgrim fathers landed on the beaches with their guns and bibles.
1
I wonder how this relates to our "prison for profit" system? No doubt the providers are suitably recompensed for prisoner medical care, so the more prisoners the better, while the taxpayers pickup the tab.
Prisons for profit aren't just in humane--they are fiscally irresponsible.
58
BINGO!!! End privatization of prisons!
12
Read the Mother Jones expose' of same -- it's horrifying.
3
No real compassion for prisoners who die in prison. The old mantra "don't do the crime if you can't do the time" comes immediately to mind. They showed no compassion for their victims. Why should we as a society show compassion to them.
Maybe publicizing their "plights" will make other criminals re-think their actions. Probably not (usually not a lot of thinking goes on with a criminal), but one could hope...
25
Your argument has been disproven over and over again. What has the death penalty done to lower the murder rate? Nothing.
6
We need a penal-system for sure, and I don't know the answers, but; the starting point must be a reduction in length of sentences and an end to solitary confinement.
23
The primary reason the BOP approves but 6% of all requests for compassionate release is the long ago established bureaucratic principle of CYA.* CYA is the guiding light of all bureacracy's reasoning. The second and closely related reason for the BOP's disregarding of almost all compassionate leave requests is an even more political one; the lobbying group in favor of the program usually consists of the inmate and his family.
CYA has caused our brave members of congress to abolish parole, drastically restrict furloughs and out of facility education. The one and only criteria employed by the BOP is " how would it look if that dying 83 year old bed ridden dying cancer patient who was sentenced to 5 years for tax evasion look if she committed an armed robbery?" Never is compassion considered and always how would the granting authority look if the releasee did commit a crime?
The intestinal fortitude of the person charged with granting such request is probably 6%.The other 94% all are just employing CYA.
An interesting case of compassionate release that was a blatant abuse of the program was the release of a fairly young US Congressman named Mario Biaggi. He was released quickly and quietly from a relatively short sentence.
He lived, if my recollection is correct a good quarter of a century after his release on compassionate release. Congress was his lobbying force if it is to be believed that he phoned many of them demanding it "or else".
*CYA cover your a..
23
And yet we keep pretending we are a "christian" nation.
93
This reminds me of a line from the film “Walk the Line”, the Johnny Cash biopic. In the film, Joaquin Phoenix, who portrays Mr. Cash, is talking to his record company about doing a concert at a prison. The executives are against it, and one says something to the effect of, “Your fans are Christian folks, Johnny. They don’t want to hear you singing to a bunch of rapists and murderers trying to cheer them up.” To which Joaquin Phoenix, as Mr. Cash, replies laconically, “Well, they ain’t Christian then.”
Whether Mr. Cash had that exact conversation with his record company I have no idea, but he did do a series of in-prison concerts, the recordings of which are some phenomenal music that can still be enjoyed today. Mr. Cash extended compassion to people who, by the standard of most societies, perhaps didn’t deserve it, thereby demonstrating his own better nature. In the case of these medically fragile and dying prisoners, most of whom are imprisoned on nonviolent offenses in the first place, we might do well to try to follow Mr. Cash’s example of charity and compassion.
21
No, we are not a 'christian' nation. We are a nation of laws. This Jewish person is tired of seeing that phrase trotted out again and again. There may be many Christians who live and worship in this nation, but we are not a christian nation.
28
I think that ordinary people are very good, compassionate and even heroic in a crisis. I don't know what happens when people are appointed to or elected to an office of some sort. The worst within them seem to just rise up. We are not the greatest country on earth, and we haven't been in decades -- maybe many decades. I'm 69 years old. Our government's handling of The Vietnam War greatly changed the way I looked at my country. It's never been good since. Please don't tell me to leave. If I could have left, I would have left long ago.
3
Heads for beds. It is as true in prison as it is in nursing homes. Older and sicker prisoners make for low threats to personnel while making taxpayers fork up more money to the privatized prison system to care for them. This is a horrible and cruel system that keeps harmless old people away from whatever small bit of life they had in them all so owners of prisons can sunbathe in tropical places with their families. Just wow...
84
More details about our mentally ill and frequently evil America, humane actions automatically rejected by the system.
10
In relation to the 60 Minutes report on how inmates are treated in German prisons, this is beyond disgraceful.
Our attitudes about guns and prisons--which go together--need a drastic adjustment in this country.
119
I hope that one day you or your family members are imprisoned, not out of meanness but just so you can learn about all you do not currently understand.
In addition to capital punishment, which is barbaric and should be abolished, this practice of prison bureaus overruling medical judgment is profoundly inhumane.
Why hasn’t this matter been brought before the courts once and for all as a clear violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution?
66
Sadly insurance companies also overrule medical judgements.
6
Shameful. If they have a decent place to go, this if just petty bureaucratic spite. And handcuffing/ chaining someone to a bed that is unconscious and on a ventilator is just grotesque. Same as when that is done to pregnant, laboring Women. Any Doctor or professional Nurse that would participate in these practices is not worthy of the title. Seriously.
62
Inmates are restrained to protect hospital workers.
My ex was 69 when first sent to prison for trying to kill me. He was supposed to be in for 6 years. The released him in 3, at age 72. He immediately began stalking and calling me and my children. The day he was released he called 40 times. He gave a false address to his parole officer, but detectives found him anyway and kept him under surveillance. They arrested him 1 month after he had been released. He had built several bombs and acquired 2 hand guns. He tried to play "I'm just a poor, sick little old man" in the court room, but he was sent back for 7+ more years. Do I believe in early release? NO NO NO!
111
Thank you for this. The extremely sympathetic examples the Times chooses never tell the whole story. And I am reminded of Lynne Stewart--she of "I can do 24 months standing in my head" fame--who was resentenced to 10 years, obtained compassionate release, resumed her public turbulence, and died quite a bit longer than the 6 month window
10
*truculence*
1
This article focuses on nonviolent offenders who are in the last stages of life., not the violent ones like your ex who are healthy enough to commit more crimes.
24
are there a number of examples of released elderly felons, then committing crimes? are there are any number of examples of elderly released felons then going on to live decades? I'm not arguing against the article, but the Times continually offers a one sided view of reality
32
People who work in the Bureau of Prisons are probably people who believe in punishment as a cure all, not empathy or mercy. Data, economic arguments, or common sense would be unlikely to change them much. The power to grant or deny pardons should be taken away from them. A computer program would probably do a better job.
15
An additional problem that I encountered when filing a compassionate release motion is that the BOP insists that you prove the inmate will have health insurance upon his release. This greatly added to the time it took us to file the motion because it was extremely hard to set this up while the client was incarcerated. And, for some people this will not be possible. My client ended up dying before his motion was even ruled on.
18
This is just sad and inhumane. After decades of incarceration, few prisoners are the same person they were when they committed the crimes they are serving sentences for. This story reminds me a recent news story regarding a hospital that discharged a homeless person, still in their hospital gown, and took them to the closest bus stop.
This country just seems darker and meaner since Trump occupied the White House. Show prisoners and their families some compassion instead of dumping them when they are virtually just days away from death.
16
Trump is not responsible for this, but everything is darker and meaner since his reality show came to town.
4
Perhaps our pResident will one day be hoping for compassionate release. I don't think I could be so compassionate.
41