IHH 39: PRISON REFORM IN AMERICA PART 1 WITH KAREN GEDNEY, MD

This is the first of two shows with our guest, Karen Gedney, an M.D., who wrote a very powerful account of her role as a prison doctor in one prison in Nevada. The title of the book was 30 Years behind Bars. It clearly explains how a serious medical doctor could feel the necessity of tackling the problems with the Correction System in the United States. Although just one prison, of course it mirrored many problems with the greater prison system and, throughout her career, Dr. Gedney tried to address those. One very interesting fact about her experience in prison, is that when she finished paying back the government for her work in a place that very few doctors would savor, she decided to stay- and she stayed for 30 years. By doing this she fulfilled her lifelong aspiration, begun as a child reading somewhat romantic books about being a doctor- that she wanted to help the underserved. And she did under conditions that were very unenviable for a physician whose major goal was to help her patients as much as possible. \ Karen began her career when AIDS and the HIV virus first came on the scene. This was the beginning her seeing that many decisions regarding treatment of any prisoners- were not simply practical, but political- as the objection to having those infected working in the prison kitchen. But even when transmission of HIV was more understood, people thought eating food that had been spit upon might cause HIV. In this program, Karen deals with the HIV problem today, but also with other major challenges to our incarceration system. For instance, in her own state of Nevada, it was discovered that more than half the people who have been returning to prison in that state were returning over technical violations of parole. On a much broader level, Karen relates that up to the surge in the prison population in the 1970s, our incarceration rates were comparable to other countries. After that, they were sometimes 5 times as much or more. We further discuss the fact that one out of 9 prisoners have life sentences today and that there has been a dramatic growth in the length of sentences. In this first interview, you will gain a much more real-world picture of the prison system that you generally gain from mainstream media. It is no wonder that compassionate people like Karen have taken up the cry for reform. Film scripts, audio and video ads and editing web content, web design, articles, press releases, social media profiles http://newgalaxyenterprises.com/ Archives for Inalienable and Free, Threshold Radio, Integrative Hermetic Health Show http://newgalaxybroadcasting.com/ Archives for Integrative Hermetic Health: https://bbsradio.com/integrativehermetichealth Podcasts on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inalienable-free-johnny-blue-star-dr-hugo-rodier/id1373849924 ¬Subscribe to Threshold Radio on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thresholdradio