According to a recent Tribune article, the 3,500 or more inmates in the new state prison are being “eaten alive” by mosquitoes. They are captive targets and have no way to defend themselves other than by using toxic repellant (which they have to provide themselves). In addition, they are vulnerable to anti-mosquito toxins being sprayed on the marshes nearby.
This is clearly “cruel and unusual punishment” prohibited by the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights, specifically the Eighth Amendment. It is cruel because it inflicts unwarranted pain on these prisoners – pain that is not part of their sentence. It is unusual because most prisons in America do not have such punitive conditions. And, given the annual nature of the mosquito-breeding season, it was entirely predictable.
All officers and legislators of Utah’s government swear an oath to uphold the Constitution. Therefore, those who voted to approve this project, knowing the consequences for the inmates, are in clear violation of their oath and should be held to account.
Tom Huckin, Salt Lake City
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/V07fALJ
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