cannabisnews.com: ACLU and Local Attorneys File Lawsuit 





ACLU and Local Attorneys File Lawsuit 
Posted by CN Staff on September 21, 2005 at 14:32:11 PT
For Immediate Release
Source: ACLU 
Washington, D.C. -- The mother of a quadriplegic man who died while serving a 10-day jail sentence filed a lawsuit today against District of Columbia officials and Greater Southeast Community Hospital over the deficient care that led to her son’s death. Mary Scott, mother of Jonathan Magbie, joined the American Civil Liberties Union and local attorneys at a press conference on the courthouse steps this morning to announce the lawsuit.
“My son died last year because doctors at the Jail and Greater Southeast Hospital completely ignored his medical needs,” said Scott. “Today, I am seeking justice for my son and my family. The wrongdoers must be held accountable for Jonathan’s death.”On September 20, 2004, Jonathan Magbie was incarcerated at the DC Central Detention Facility for possession of a single marijuana cigarette. Magbie, 27, was paralyzed from the neck down because of a childhood injury and required a tracheotomy tube and mechanical equipment to breathe. In the days before his death, Magbie was transferred multiple times between the detention facility, Greater Southeast Community Hospital, and the District’s Correctional Treatment Facility (CTF). “Over an agonizing four-day period, the staff at all three locations failed to provide Jonathan Magbie with necessary medical care and the services he needed because of his disabilities,” according to the lawsuit filed by private attorneys Donald M. Temple and Edward J. Connor and the ACLU. According to papers filed today, while in custody, Magbie suffered from acute pneumonia that was never treated. He was also severely dehydrated and malnourished but the jail’s infirmary failed to provide him enough nutrition or fluids. Furthermore, the ventilator he needed to assist his breathing at night was unavailable at the detention center or at the District’s treatment facility. On September 24, when medical staff at CTF were not observing him, Magbie developed an acute respiratory crisis and was transferred to the hospital, where he soon died. His mother seeks money damages for officials’ failure to provide her son with the treatment he needed to stay alive. “D.C.’s jail system had a duty to care for Jonathan Magbie’s serious medical needs,” said Elizabeth Alexander, Director of the ACLU’s National Prison Project and co-counsel in the lawsuit. “The jail and Greater Southeast Hospital failed in that duty and those failures resulted in an agonizing death.” Complete Title: ACLU and Local Attorneys File Lawsuit Over Quadriplegic Left To Die At DC Jail Source: ACLU (NY)Published: September 20, 2005Copyright: 2005 ACLUContact: media aclu.org Website: http://www.aclu.org/Related Articles & Web Site:ACLUhttp://www.aclu.org/Justice for a 'Death of Neglect'http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21121.shtmlMissing Answers About Jonathan Magbie http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20015.shtmlHospital Faulted In Death Of Inmate http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19976.shtml
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Comment #17 posted by global_warming on September 22, 2005 at 17:50:21 PT
re:Mary Scott, mother of Jonathan Magbie
“My son died last year because doctors at the Jail.."Jail, and Iraqi prisons, 2 Million Plus here in this good old USA, Russia, China, and that Southern Hemisphre..why?It used to be that Scarlet Letter, and demonism, much like what we are doing today.If you could catch a glimpse of the Light, and really knew, that you were born a "slave", would you get angry?Can a Free Man, in the Light of Gods Reality, ever be born a slave?This existence is a "gift" from the Highest, not some pimp, but Higher, look Up, the Night sky is filled with the proclemation, that is issued from the belly of God, and this life has always been in the Bosom that holds this world together, and, we are "all" brothers and sisters, may we understand, bare witness, that the Light of God, has caught our eye, and filled our souls, and we will bring this child to this day.The sign, shall forever be..that Gentle Hand of Understanding, that "we" which can do..and the child is being born, and the child should breath that first breath, for it is the promise of the Lord, who has allowed all of us to "breathe" may we come to the same place, as the Light shines everyplace, in the darkest prisons and off the the most reflective silvers, the Light may catch your eye, and we may come to our Grace, our Legacy, our message to God.Peace and Understanding
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Comment #16 posted by global_warming on September 22, 2005 at 16:05:56 PT
This Post Sucks.
I wish the lord had an easy plan, that could explain any of this stuff, but the lord must be very busy cause I aint heard no answer or seen a clear path away from all of this brutish and ignorant bad behavior.Some folks believe that any intoxicant is wrong and defiles the unknown purpose of God's Plan, of course even the most sober judges are capable of eating from silver trays.For many years religion has proven to be a most corrupt and diabolical tool that has brought much grief to our planet.I suspect that God is a Liberal, for we have been allowed to continue our divicive plans, hatched in some of the most filthy places that are common with Hell.It is very difficult to describe the wonders of "sight" to a blind person, so is that Light of Understanding denied those who cannot see.We are divided by a chasm, yet this huge chasm, is but a wink and a nod, when that Light engulfs your soul, when that Light illuminates your place in this reality, as a child who can look up at the Night Sky and wonder and know that he belongs to this Glory.There is Glory beyond our imagination, this vast universe, is bubbeling and giving birth, new points of Light, continue to shine, re-affirming Gods plans that "Liberal Giver" the Giver of Light, Understanding and Love.Please forget not your hand, it can be used in so many gentle ways, that never require "hammered nails"..PEACE..and forget not, to catch a look at the Light...
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Comment #15 posted by The GCW on September 22, 2005 at 07:26:03 PT
herbdoc215
You are a Christ.Growing further even every few minutes.As much as I can be; I Am with You.As much as You can be; be with Me.Your shoes are special.Love.Tender peace.The Green Collar Worker
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Comment #14 posted by JustGetnBy on September 21, 2005 at 21:50:03 PT
Daaammmnnnn !!!
HerbDoc 215  I havn't heard such rank Sh#t since the Drug Czars last press release. Govt. seems to have become a force of evil the world over. I feel for you, and it saddens me that we seem to be helpless against this monsterous evil.  PM me here if your ever in Nor Cal, Redding area......... Mi Casa Su Casa./  Don't give em any satisfaction, stay strong.I know it's pretty hokey today, BUT , "POWER TO THE PEOPLE" 
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on September 21, 2005 at 21:02:03 PT
herbdoc215
You say you are at peace but you don't understand why all this has happened if I'm understanding what you meant. I can relate to those feelings. I went thru times when my son got sick and died at 29 and my husband was hit by a runaway semi truck while he was having his truck and trailer serviced one night in a big truck stop garage. He was pinned between a loaded steel truck and trailer and his truck and trailer. The huge garage door separated him a little and possibly being pinned is what saved his life. We almost lost our home and I was very angry much of the time because none of it seemed fair. I am not angry anymore. I am happy that we have recovered and bad memories have healed. I sometimes think it takes years to realize why things happen like they do. One thing I've learned is I never take anything for granted. 
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Comment #12 posted by herbdoc215 on September 21, 2005 at 20:46:05 PT
FoM, My e-mail address is listed 
on my website, www.ashlumines.com ;)I would list it here but spammers would get me. If you would like your welcome to write me or even call me at number listed there and I'd be happy to answer any question you may have...yall are just like family here and there is no questions off limits to family where I'm from :) I've been getting ready for this mentally for awhile but when time hits it's never good...it is definately in the Lords hands now and I still don't believe he would have led me all this way for nothing, strangely I'm more at peace now than I've been in over 8 years. I jst pray everyday that he gives me the strength to walk into the lions den and prepare a table for me amongst mine enemies. I have no idea where this will end or what it is leading to but I can feel the hand of God again and know I am moving upon my path that was lain for me which now is all that matters to me anymore, I can't let allthis pain and loss be for nothing. So many people have sacrificed to carry me this far and I owe them more than I can say but they have given me my soul back so it was a good deal. I have always gotten my best advice here, and listen very well when yall tell me things so if I have missed anything please feel free to correct me as this is still about the patients first and foremost. Thanks for caring, it means a lot to me. Peace, steve tuck
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on September 21, 2005 at 20:33:27 PT
herbdoc215
I'm really sorry. I have a million questions but I don't want to put you on the spot so I won't ask any. Things are so very different now down here then when you were last living here. I just don't know what to say to you. Please be strong. 
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Comment #10 posted by herbdoc215 on September 21, 2005 at 20:15:48 PT
This is the very thing I'm most worried about! 
Being laughed at while you scream in pain for help is one of the lowest points in my life and I still have nightmares about the looks of hatred the cops and jailers here had for me. I never knew I was a monster? I just got my walking papers from Canada, 10 days and I MUST go to be turned over to Feds at border. Hell of a way to tell me also as I barely got 10 days. I am supposed to turn myself in Fri morning Oct 1, 2005 to be deported...this decision is the most facist peice of shit ever produced by a legal body I've seen yet...asswipe material. I love how the hells angels run this country as their private kingdom! Richard wrote about yesterday http://www.marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=852  , I am still in shock but at least the basterds haven't made me quit yet...I've decided to make them do their own killing as I can hack all the tourture they can dish out as I'm no stranger to the pain!  Peace, Steve Tuck
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Comment #9 posted by ekim on September 21, 2005 at 20:14:11 PT
     soulless machine by Richard Cowan
Yesterday, Canada, or rather a bureaucrat acting on its behalf, rejected Steve Tuck’s request that it “assess” the risk he would face if forced to return to DEAland.
http://www.marijuananews.com/
Canada must look at the evil that is being committed in its name by its bureaucracy. It is run by a clique of preening hypocrites who call themselves “Liberals”, but the best description of Canada that I have seen recently calls it “the glossiest, the most sophisticated and the most up-to-date version of the illiberal state.” Canadians must take back their country, not just from the US, but from this soulless machine.
http://www.marijuananews.com/
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Comment #8 posted by mayan on September 21, 2005 at 18:23:05 PT
Sickening
The fact that this man was even incarcerated in the first place is sickening. May this suit be heard across the land! THE WAY OUT:Pentagon nixes 9/11 hearing testimony:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/21/pentagon_nixes_911_hearing_testimony/9/11 aircraft parts as a clue to their identity:
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=9/21/2005&Cat=14&Num=001RICO - Rodriguez vs. Bush:
http://www.911forthetruth.com/
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Comment #7 posted by The GCW on September 21, 2005 at 17:38:01 PT
Where did this take place?
Bush' back yard.
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Comment #6 posted by paulpeterson on September 21, 2005 at 16:13:18 PT:
Magbie was a poster child at the Reagan Whitehouse
When his death first surfaced, I saw a picture someone pulled up with a name search. It was "National Respiratory Therapy Week" touting the benefits of understanding the need for these things. Yep, he was wearing one in his chair then.Now, when you think about it further, consider that he was in possession of the best anti-inflammatory agent known to man, known to reduce lung secretions and avoid emphesemia. His pneumomia was really increased secretions secondary to withdrawal of cannabinoid therapy. The large airways, likewise, would have lost the dilatory effects and would start to constrict. Remember, cannabis is an anti-spasmatic also, meaning that the mere loss of dosage could start the spasms. I also believe that his BCE center, somewhat close to the site of the spinal cord injury, would have been somewhat calmed and moderated by cannabis. (Brain lesions/scar tissue might be more inclined to spasm) Perhaps the reduced airway, increased mucosity, thickening of lung surface and increased difficulty breathing put enough of an oxygen load on his overtaxed BCE to start a failure of pulse generation. The BCE center produces two seperate reflex impulses, one being the gasp, the other a full expansion intake pulse. The full expansion pulse is usually the first one to falter, perhaps implicated in SDS in infants. What I am suggesting, then, is that once the breath is somewhat compromised anyway, then it is FATAL to remove cannabinoid moderation to the BCE center. (This is what I call the Christ Center, 765 brain cells that issue the automatic breath & redundant heart pulse). In 2003, they found the exact location at the back and base of the brain. When approximately 80% of these cells falter, the breath becomes halting-this is especially critical when oxygen levels drop. Since this center does NOT SHUT DOWN with cannabis treatment, it is probable that cannabis only moderates and works it's magic by ANTISPASMATIC EFFECTS.All of the other drugs, ETOH, opiates, benzo SHUT IT DOWN, which is why even a slight OD of these causes people to DIE when they dose off to sleep. Hasta.This case will be a bell-weather event in the crumbling of prohibition. The matter got really good coverage in DC & on this site as well. (Thanks). I am sorry, in retrospect, that nothing more was made of the neurological implication of the BCE center. Who knows, if more was known and published in DC, maybe we could have gotten another vote or two? Paul Peterson
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on September 21, 2005 at 16:11:05 PT
Max Flowers 
I really hope it's goes his way. 
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Comment #4 posted by global_warming on September 21, 2005 at 15:52:50 PT
re:possession of a single marijuana cigarette.
Though some may be getting high on high fives,This war on poor people is becoming a national disgrace,How long can you hold a niggers toe, Eany meany miney mo,Who can close their eyes the longest?
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Comment #3 posted by Max Flowers on September 21, 2005 at 15:46:51 PT
Great news regarding Eddy Lepp?
Not really "news" at this stage, but "inside word" reported today from a close friend of his who accompanied him to his latest court date.The friend reports that according to observations he made in court and then conversation he had with Lepp after court, "the tide has turned" away from federal advantage and they are starting to cast a dim view on the idea of going ahead with the prosecution. Basically, they are starting to realize that they will lose big time if they take it to trial. The friend can't give more detail at this time, but felt confident enough to predict a general positive outcome for Lepp.If true, that's fantastic! You guys know who Eddy Lepp is right? He was the guy busted for 30,000 plants in Lake County which were a co-op for a large number of patients. Stay tuned...
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on September 21, 2005 at 14:56:19 PT
Thanks b4daylight
We were talking about this very story on this thread. You might like to check it out.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21127.shtml#24
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Comment #1 posted by b4daylight on September 21, 2005 at 14:35:28 PT
FOM
 check this out everyone!!!!!!!!DNA research uncovers new cannabis strainResearchers in the ACT appear to have found a previously unidentified type of cannabis plant which they have dubbed 'rasta'.There are currently thought to be only two types of cannabis, one prized for its rope-making qualities, the other cultivated for its drug properties.New Scientist reports that Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) scientists categorised almost 200 cannabis plants according to their DNA.CIT spokesman Simon Gilmore says he and colleagues at the institute's Centre for Forensic Science appear to have uncovered another sub-species of the plant.'Rasta' is not dissimilar to the sativa sub-species but New Scientist reports that it contains more THC, certainly more than the indica sub-species that is used for rope-making.Mr Gilmore says it could be an ancient line they have identified through DNA."What we might be uncovering is really an ancient relationship," he said."Cannabis has been used a lot by humans in the last few thousand years and while we have a signature that there might have been three different types of cannabis, what could have happened with human cross-breeding [is] that those distinctions could have been lost by now."Three different mitochondrial DNA types in the cannabis that's grown these days, it might imply that cannabis had been domesticated on three separate occasions."It seems the first use was for food - cannabis seeds are highly nutritious apparently but not all that tasty."Mr Gilmore says the object of studying 200 plants was to find markers to track the origins of illegal cannabis.
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hhttp://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200509/s1461416.htm
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