This interview by Justine van der Leun first appeared on Medium. Given our attempts to bridge the prison walls in Louisiana at this difficult time, it is being re-printed here. I believe I know who and where this incarcerated person is, but it could be anywhere and should raise demands that incarcerated people must be released, when possible, and cared for with dignity and respect in every case.
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A couple of months
ago about 300 of us got sick. They took everybody 50 years old and over and
moved them permanently to their own dorm. Whatever that sickness was—maybe a
brutal flu—ripped through the rest of the prison. I had a high fever, hot and
cold sweats, dizziness, coughing for hours and hours, nonstop. The treatment
was nothing. I said, “I need medicine.” They said, “No medicine for you. Drink
some water.” Everything in prison is: “Drink water.” My stomach hurts: “Drink
water.” My head hurts: “Drink water.” I’m burning up: “Drink water.”
There were guys
worse than me. They put them up on a floor that they previously closed down
years ago because it didn’t meet living standards, even in here: peeling paint,
no running water, pure filth. Then they locked the prison down with no notice.
They didn’t tell us anything—just had everybody locked in their cells. Every
three days, we came out for 20 minutes to line up and take a shower. It lasted
two weeks. That sickness, whatever it was, cleared. But now we’re on lockdown
again. No visits, not from family or lawyers. No planned medical treatments.
There’s a new virus, they said.
