Roach endured decades of ‘inhumane’ treatment in federal prison

PART II

WOODBRIDGE, Va. — It’s been a whirlwind experience for Mniconjou Lakota great-grandmother LaVonne Roach and her family since her release from Federal Prison Camp Alderson here on Jan. 20 — as former U.S. President Trump left the White House.

Roach was one of 143 individuals who received pardons and commuted sentences from President Trump on his final day in office. She was imprisoned for more than 23 years for a non-violent drug crime in Rapid City back in April 1997. She was convicted on March 2, 1998 for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and sentenced to 30 years on her first offense. She served 23 years.

Her experience with the federal prison system is one of nightmares and in her words, she was lucky to get out alive. From medical mistreatment to the oppression of her religious rights, she endured inhuman treatment, she told the Native Sun News Today.

Incarcerated people across the country are routinely subjected to inhumane conditions and they are, unfortunately, nothing new, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). This a burdensome reality, since the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world— five to ten times higher than those of countries like Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, it notes.

Chronic illnesses often go untreated, emergencies ignored, and patients with serious mental illness fail to receive necessary care. For some patients, like Lavonne Roach, poor medical care turns a sentence for a minor offense into a struggle for life.

Statistics are scant on the total number of lawsuits against the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals.

However, BOP jails become defendants in inmate lawsuits up to hundreds of times each year, according to a report published by the National Institute of Corrections. The main litigation topic is medical care—the lack of it.

The ACLU’S lawsuits alone number in the dozens over the years, spokesperson Aaron Madrid told the Native Sun News Today. “Over the years, we have filed numerous cases against the BOP.” Madrid said.

Among the most recent lawsuits was this one in October 2020 seeking information about the federal government’s response to Covid-19 in federal prisons. The ACLU also has filed lawsuits in relation to specific federal prisons, including Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina and the Waseca Federal Correctional Institution in Minnesota.

LaVonne’s medical health scares began when she suffered a heart attack early in her sentence in 1999, while she was at Federal Correctional Institute Dublin in California. Guards escorted her out of the prison to a local hospital, where staff recommended a pacemaker because she couldn’t maintain a regular heartbeat, according to the hospital. Roach refused the pacemaker implant.

Not long after, her health continued to deteriorate and within several years of serving her 30-year sentence, she began experiencing migraines.

“I’ve had lots of migraines in my life, prior to my incarceration, and I’ve been on medication for them,” she said. “When I was sent to FCI Dublin, I didn’t receive my medication for them.”

In 2004, her migraines caused her to black out and lose track of time, eventually causing her to fall resulting in a sprained ankle and a visit to the prison medical unit, she recalled. During her visit she explained her symptoms to the prison medical team and they initially recommended an MRI, but that didn’t happen.

Her symptoms continued to worsen, and she ended up having to visit the prison medical unit again, three years later in 2007, after she suffered more black outs and losing much of her strength.

Because of her visible deterioration, she was taken to a neurosurgeon in San Francisco for a MRI, a visit that initially was recommended in 2004. The examination revealed a brain aneurysm and she was rushed to brain surgery several days later, she said.

After four days’ hospital recovery, she returned to FCI Dublin, where she said her condition was met with indifference by prison guards: They refused her the recommended wheelchair and her prescribed pain medications, resulting in her collapsing on her head in her cell.

“I clearly couldn’t walk on my own, I had bandages all over my head from brain surgery,” said Roach. “After I fell in my room, I couldn’t walk on my own for some time. My fall caused more damage.”

After learning of her fall, her family pressured the Bureau of Prisons to ensure her medical needs were cared for, something many prisoners lack. “A lot of people in prison don’t have support,” said Roach. “I’ve seen so many women crying in pain, waiting for medical care.”

One of the worst treatments she recalls was the recommendation by medical staff and doctors that the best remedy for inmates was to drink water.

One of her stays was FCI Victorville, constructed on the now-defunct George Air Force Base, which since the Cold War was tasked with preparing for a Soviet attack on the Pacific Coast. The base became a hub of nuclear missiles and other radioactive substances, many of which were stored in barrels in the land.

According to the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board, industrial solvents like trichloroethylene, pesticides like dieldrin and aldrin, and chemicals from jet fuel have contaminated the water supply.

“Medical staff tell us to drink tap water knowing it’s contaminated,” said Roach. “It’s inhumane.”

LaVonne’s complaints of inhumane treatment while imprisoned aren’t limited to her physical needs, either. She explains she was denied the use of elements fundamental to the practice of her religion while incarcerated as a Lakota woman.

“American Indians do not get treated equally in the prison system,” said Roach. “The prisons do not understand it’s an entire way of life and many call us — and treat us as — pagan.”

While in the BOP system, Roach claims she was denied several components necessary for her spiritual practices, such as sacred plants and tobacco for use in ceremonies, burnable wood for a sweat lodge, and access to the outdoors for ceremonies, a spiritual adviser and other religious items.

“We were denied every aspect of our culture and any request had to go through a chaplain, where many of them didn’t know our traditions or culture,” Roach said.

“I’ve seen women heal when they were allowed to practice their way of life,” said Roach. “But when things started going well, is when the prison started making things more difficult. They didn’t want us to ever be comfortable.”

Courts generally rule to protect prisoners from interference with their ability to attend religious services or engage in prayer according to their beliefs, but that doesn’t always mean the prisons follow court orders, unless challenged by inmates through legal avenues.

A one year delay in providing sweat lodge for Native American religious activities violates First Amendment, courts have found. However, they have often concluded that prison officials could generally ban religious objects if they could pose security problems, and that varies from prison to prison, from guard to guard, and shift to shift.

Left with the impression that the Bureau of Prisons enjoys seeing people suffer, Roach reflected on her peers still behind bars. “I hope something is done for all the women in the prison system,” she said. “Something needs to happen.”

(Contact Darren Thompson at darrenjthompson@hotmail.com)

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