I am writing to you as a former Department of Correction registered nurse and member of StopSolitaryCT in Hamden about an urgent matter the community needs to know about.
March 25 marks the day seven years ago that a young gentleman, father and son named J’Allen Jones was brutally slain at t
he hands of corrections officers at Garner Correctional Institute.
Jones’ family and StopSolitaryCT have been working hard since then to get the State of Connecticut and DOC to release the video of his beating to the public. As a former corrections nurse I can attest it is of the utmost importance that people are made aware of what happened to Jones that day because brutal, neglectful and inhumane treatment resulting in unnecessary deaths continues to occur in our correctional facilities.
During my brief time at York Correctional Institution I witnessed the daily abuse and mistreatment of the women in my care at the hands of the DOC. It didn’t take working there long to see the ways our justice system is based entirely on the criminalization of mental illness and poverty. As a nurse, I was not empowered to take adequate care of my patients and quickly realized I was nothing more than a tool for the DOC that further contributed to the daily trauma of the women.
The last straw for me was when a young post-partum mother died inside our infirmary. My professional opinion is she was likely dead for four hours before anybody found her in spite of every 10 minute safety checks by corrections officers and a standard beginning of shift medical tour that is wholly inadequate to ensure the health and well-being of the women.
When I learned about Jones, I quickly saw the parallels between him and my patient. Both young parents, both struggling with mental illness, and both dying at the hands of an inhumane system that treated them as less than worthy because of their struggles. I joined the Department of Correction as a nurse hoping to make a positive impact on the lives of some of our most vulnerable members of society. I was shocked and appalled to see the level to which our incarcerated population of people are abused and mistreated day in and day out.
The taxpaying public deserves to share what I now know from my brief time working for the DOC. We will not stop fighting until this video is released as it is an imperative step to building a society based on compassion and care for people struggling rather than the punitive, harmful, and racist system that currently exists.
Karen Conley, RN of North Haven is a member of StopSolitaryCT.
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