In February 2016, 27-year-old India Cummings died as a result of medical neglect while incarcerated at the Erie County Holding Center in Upstate New York. In this episode, we get into the inadequacies of law enforcement in addressing medical and mental health issues, the role of the Sheriff in the American criminal legal system, and the disturbing pattern of inmate deaths particularly in upstate New York.
---
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM:
@lostonespod
THEME MUSIC BY:
Derrick Holman, Vibes Creative
---
Sources:
“A Guide to Joe Arpaio, the Longtime Sheriff Who Escaped Strife,” The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/27/us/joe-arpaio-sheriff-pardon.html?module=inline
“Commission: Rochester woman’s 2016 jail death ‘homicide due to medical neglect’,” Democrat & Chronicle
https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2018/08/03/india-cummings-death-homicide-due-medical-neglect-commission-says/897632002/
“Doctors Don’t Always Believe You When You’re a Black Woman,” Vice
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qvedxd/doctors-dont-always-believe-you-when-youre-a-black-woman
Final Report of the New York State Commission of Correction: In the Matter of the Special Investigation into the Care and Treatment Provided to India Cummings, an Inmate of the Erie County Holding Center
https://s3.amazonaws.com/bncore/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/18-F-120.pdf
“First response to mental health crisis should be compassion, not cops,” San Francisco Examiner
https://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/first-response-to-mental-health-crisis-should-be-compassion-not-cops/
“How training doctors in implicit bias could save the lives of black mothers,” NBC News
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/how-training-doctors-implicit-bias-could-save-lives-black-mothers-n873036
“Lawsuit claims deputies "literally watched" New York inmate die,” CBS News
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/india-cummings-case-lawsuit-claims-deputies-literally-watched-inmate-die-in-new-york-jail/
National Association of Medical Examiners Position Paper: Recommendations for the Definition, Investigation, Postmortem Examination, and Reporting of Deaths in Custody
https://name.memberclicks.net/assets/docs/2e14b3c6-6a0d-4bd3-bec9-fc6238672cba.pdf
“Pathologist won't alter his findings in India Cummings' cause of death,” Buffalo News
https://buffalonews.com/2018/07/19/pathologist-wont-alter-his-findings-in-india-cummings-cause-of-death/
“A Pattern of Jail Deaths in Upstate New York - and across the Country,” The Appeal Podcast