We can all agree that prison sucks. After all, it’s prison. But while prison isn’t supposed to be a 4-star resort, there are still limitations on what is acceptable when it comes to inmate treatment. Rather, there are supposed to be limitations, but if the alleged events of Adrian King’s imprisonment turn out to be true, then a serious investigation to the prison where he was incarcerated, as well as the staff at that prison, is without a doubt necessary.
With a lawsuit brought against the prison, Mr. King lays bare his story. He alleges to have subjected to a months-long crusade by prison officials wanting him to agree to a medically (and possibly legally) unnecessary surgical procedure to remove marbles implanted in his penis prior to his incarceration.
After a long stint in “administrative segregation” (more commonly known as solitary confinement), Mr. King reluctantly agreed solely so he can get out. The procedure was done and now Mr. King’s penis is severely deformed, prone to uncomfortable tingling and numbness, is weather sensitive, and causes him excruciating pain when the scar comes into contact with anything.
Mr. King is concerned that the insistence of prison officials to remove the marbles from his penis may have ruined any chance he has a normal sex life.
The alleged decision by prison officials to throw Mr. King in solitary confinement until he agreed to the procedure is said to have grown out of disapproval of a body modification procedure Mr. King made when he was still a free man. In 2008, three years before he was incarcerated, Mr. King tattooed his penis and had the marbles implanted in a body modification procedure known as “pearling.” He and his then-fiancée agreed to the procedure for purposes of enhancing their sex life, which is a common reason for genital modification.
About a year into his incarceration, Mr. King was ordered to the prison’s medical ward after another inmate accused him of implanting the marbles during his prison term. He was examined by prison medical officials who determined that the implants were not recently inserted. But, as King alleges, that answer infuriated prison officials, who gave him 60 days of solitary confinement and effectively added an additional 90 days to his prison term.
During his time in solitary confinement, Mr. King was once again taken to the medical ward for examination, where the same answer was given regarding the state of his penis. When he was returned to the prison:
“… the deputy warden allegedly told King to ‘get comfortable you stupid son of a bitch,’ and that King would ‘be placed in administrative segregation until you do as I say and have those marbles removed.’ When King protested, the deputy warden allegedly responded ‘I can do what the fuck I want.'”
Mr. King would be in solitary for months before he finally agreed to the procedure.
When Mr. King first brought a lawsuit against the prison officials he alleges did this to him, a federal trial court ruled that King could not bring the suit. However, a federal appeals court struck down the trial court’s decision and reinstated the lawsuit.
Malpractice isn’t limited to doctors and lawyers. Any professional who engages in improper, illegal, or negligent professional activity commits malpractice. It seems to me that throwing a man in solitary confinement as a means to force him to submit to a medically unnecessary procedure, especially one that was to “correct” something that medical officials stated was unnecessary to treat, constitutes goddamn malpractice.
Coercion is a form of malpractice, in this case. A crusade from the view on Mr. King’s body modification, as is alleged by Mr. King, that left a man physically damaged is malpractice, in this case. Hell, the use of solitary confinement — which studies have shown has a “shrinking” effect on the human brain — is malpractice, in this case (and really, any case).
But then again, this is the American criminal justice system we’re talking about, a network of attitudes and enforcement just as deformed as Mr. King’s penis, as this video points out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OqXw5syYJc
Featured image by Ms. Akr, available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
h/t ThinkProgress
