IHH 40: PRISON REFORM IN AMERICA – PART 2 WITH KAREN GEDNEY, MD

This is the second of two fascinating interviews with Karen Gedney, an M.D., often called Dr. G., who spent 30 years as the prison doctor in a prison in Nevada. Her book about her experience is a powerful testimony to one woman’s dedication to patients whose lives were not often touched with either compassion or understanding. A robust description of her life in that prison in Carson City and the positive changes she tried and often did transact successfully are recorded in her book. 30 Years behind Bars. From almost the beginning of her career, higher ups in her prison were determined to get Dr. Gedney out and a sham investigation began, one complaint saying she was prejudicial towards black prisoners because her husband was black. The problem was probably a threat of losing control. The prison authorities had chosen suppression and sometimes brutality over concern for the prisoners’ inherent humanity. In the interview, she points out the difference between the type of prison authorities who had control paramount in their minds owing to their security concerns and her own mindset as a doctor who had taken the Hippocratic Oath. The authorities had the mindset that focused on self-protection and the protection of the prison from prisoner wrongdoing and the kind of force that would prevent that from happening, whereas Doctor G was always focused on providing them with the best medical care she could give but also with a belief in anything that would serve for prisoner rehabilitation and personal growth. One troubling injustice we discuss which Dr. Gedney became aware of in the beginning of her career and continues to this day- is a legal process primarily targeting the poor. Once arrested and waiting trial, bail is often set, requiring the now prisoner to present their own or borrowed funds to get out of prison. Those who wait in jail are often filled with stress and hopelessness, not knowing what the outcome would be. During this time, they often are reminded that deciding and submitting a guilty plea would lessen their sentence, even perhaps get them out of jail- and would remove the need to raise bail to get out of jail before trial. The prisoner would then be tempted plead guilty even if they were innocent just to get the whole thing behind them- but after acceptance of the plea, despite the presumably lighter sentence, the prisoner, despite their possible innocence, would be stuck with a job-resistant felony conviction that could follow them the rest of their life. Although things were challenging, Dr. Gedney could work fairly tranquilly within and without the prison walls. Then, after some troubled contacts with a disturbed but very intelligent prisoner named Moth who targeted her emotionally and ultimately sexually, he took her hostage. Her final encounter with this highly damaged ex-Marine, who was saved from a death sentence through a Supreme Court’s fortuitous ban on execution, led to his explosive termination during her rescue. This incident revealed to her the very real danger of working in an often poisonous male environment- but she still didn’t give up until years later when she retired from the prison system. In one sense, what happened to her was not so impossible, given the everyday state of mind of many prisoners. In fact, serious mental illnesses are common in prisons in this country, many provoked by the unforgivable and brutal act of putting people in solitary confinement for long periods of time, even life. Knowing all that she knows, Dr. Gedney is a poignant commentator on the state of the prison system in the United States and what can be done to improve the life and trajectory of its inmates. If you are interested in engaging her as a speaker, check out her website at https://discoverdrg.com/speaking . Film scripts, audio and video ads and editing web content, web design, articles, press releases, social media profiles www.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://youtube.com/thresholdradio