Kiriakou writes: "Jeffrey Sterling doesn't have the luxury of time. He needs
help immediately."
CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling. (photo: ExposeFacts.org)
Whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling Appears to Have Suffered a Heart Attack in
Prison
By John Kiriakou, Reader Supported News
19 September 16
I've written a couple of articles recently, here and here, about CIA
whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling and his battle to get adequate medical care
while incarcerated in the Federal Correctional Institution at Englewood,
Colorado. Jeffrey has a history of atrial fibrillation. He has had several
medical "episodes" in prison related to his heart, and prison officials have
refused to allow him to see an outside cardiologist or to go to a hospital
for tests.
Jeffrey's wife, Holly Sterling, told me in an email on Sunday that Jeffrey
appears to have suffered a heart attack. She said:
Things continue to get worse for Jeffrey. He had another episode today and
had to go to the medic. He was playing darts and began sweating profusely,
heart pounding, and chest pain. Jeffrey was informed, for the first time, of
his blood work results. He has high levels of Troponin. A Troponin test
measures the levels of Troponin T or Troponin I proteins in the blood. These
proteins are released when the heart muscle has been damaged, such as occurs
with a heart attack. The more damage there is to the heart, the greater the
amount of Troponin T and I there will be in the blood.
Prison medical officials told Jeffrey two weeks ago that they would take him
out to see a specialist, but that never happened. They told Jeffrey recently
that it was the cardiologist who had cancelled the visit, a very unlikely
proposition. In the meantime, he was forced to initiate something called the
"Administrative Remedy Process," which theoretically would force the warden
to take action to help him. More on that in a moment.
Holly Sterling has been tireless in her work to get her husband to a
cardiologist. She asked Jeffrey's sentencing judge, Leonie Brinkema, to
intervene. Brinkema refused. She then enlisted the support of Norman
Solomon's Roots Action, which has asked supporters to call Warden Deborah
Denham at 303-763-4300. In addition to the warden, Solomon recommends
contacting the Bureau of Prisons' North Central Regional Office by calling
Sara M. Revell at 913-621-3939 or writing to her at NCRO/
ExecAssistant@xxxxxxx . Our grass roots pressure may be the only thing that
gets Jeffrey Sterling to a cardiologist. It could save his life.
The above is most certainly NOT what the Bureau of Prisons wants you to do.
They argue that there is an Administrative Remedy Process in place, and that
the only way Jeffrey will get any attention - if, they say, he deserves any
at all - is to go through the process. Let me explain what this corrupt,
backward, and probably illegal system entails.
If a federal prisoner has a problem - any problem, whether it's with a rude
staff member, a complaint about conditions, or a medical problem - he must
fill out a form called a BP-8.5. He writes out his complaint, and the form
then goes to the person the prisoner is complaining about. The staff member
has one week to respond. Of course, no staff member is going to say, "My
bad. You got me. Sorry. We'll fix this." So the prisoner then fills out a
form BP-9. That goes to the warden, who has four weeks to respond. But
again, no warden is going to side with a prisoner over a staff member.
The prisoner then fills out a form BP-10, which goes to the nearest BOP
Regional Office. The director there has three months to respond. But
regional directors, logically, will support their wardens, not a prisoner.
Once the prisoner loses there, he fills out a BP-11, which goes to BOP
Headquarters in Washington. Headquarters has six months to respond.
The whole process, then, takes just under a year. But the BOP has two more
tricks up its sleeve. First, they backdate their responses. So if the warden
has to respond by September 1, let's say, but he doesn't actually respond
until October 15, he just backdates the response to September 1. So in
reality, the process takes more than a year. And a second tactic is if the
prisoner actually has a legitimate grievance, the BOP will just transfer him
to another prison. He then has to start the process all over again.
To make matters even worse, the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996,
coupled with a U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding it, has mandated that
all prisoners must exhaust the Administrative Remedy Process before they can
file a lawsuit.
Jeffrey Sterling doesn't have the luxury of time. He needs help immediately.
Please pick up your phone and demand treatment for him.
________________________________________
John Kiriakou is an associate fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies.
He is a former CIA counterterrorism officer and a former senior investigator
with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission
to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader
Supported News.
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CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling. (photo: ExposeFacts.org)
http://readersupportednews.org/http://readersupportednews.org/
Whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling Appears to Have Suffered a Heart Attack in
Prison
By John Kiriakou, Reader Supported News
19 September 16
've written a couple of articles recently, here and here, about CIA
whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling and his battle to get adequate medical care
while incarcerated in the Federal Correctional Institution at Englewood,
Colorado. Jeffrey has a history of atrial fibrillation. He has had several
medical "episodes" in prison related to his heart, and prison officials have
refused to allow him to see an outside cardiologist or to go to a hospital
for tests.
Jeffrey's wife, Holly Sterling, told me in an email on Sunday that Jeffrey
appears to have suffered a heart attack. She said:
Things continue to get worse for Jeffrey. He had another episode today and
had to go to the medic. He was playing darts and began sweating profusely,
heart pounding, and chest pain. Jeffrey was informed, for the first time, of
his blood work results. He has high levels of Troponin. A Troponin test
measures the levels of Troponin T or Troponin I proteins in the blood. These
proteins are released when the heart muscle has been damaged, such as occurs
with a heart attack. The more damage there is to the heart, the greater the
amount of Troponin T and I there will be in the blood.
Prison medical officials told Jeffrey two weeks ago that they would take him
out to see a specialist, but that never happened. They told Jeffrey recently
that it was the cardiologist who had cancelled the visit, a very unlikely
proposition. In the meantime, he was forced to initiate something called the
"Administrative Remedy Process," which theoretically would force the warden
to take action to help him. More on that in a moment.
Holly Sterling has been tireless in her work to get her husband to a
cardiologist. She asked Jeffrey's sentencing judge, Leonie Brinkema, to
intervene. Brinkema refused. She then enlisted the support of Norman
Solomon's Roots Action, which has asked supporters to call Warden Deborah
Denham at 303-763-4300. In addition to the warden, Solomon recommends
contacting the Bureau of Prisons' North Central Regional Office by calling
Sara M. Revell at 913-621-3939 or writing to her at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript
enabled to view it
" target="_blank"NCRO/ ExecAssistant@xxxxxxx. Our grass roots pressure may
be the only thing that gets Jeffrey Sterling to a cardiologist. It could
save his life.
The above is most certainly NOT what the Bureau of Prisons wants you to do.
They argue that there is an Administrative Remedy Process in place, and that
the only way Jeffrey will get any attention - if, they say, he deserves any
at all - is to go through the process. Let me explain what this corrupt,
backward, and probably illegal system entails.
If a federal prisoner has a problem - any problem, whether it's with a rude
staff member, a complaint about conditions, or a medical problem - he must
fill out a form called a BP-8.5. He writes out his complaint, and the form
then goes to the person the prisoner is complaining about. The staff member
has one week to respond. Of course, no staff member is going to say, "My
bad. You got me. Sorry. We'll fix this." So the prisoner then fills out a
form BP-9. That goes to the warden, who has four weeks to respond. But
again, no warden is going to side with a prisoner over a staff member.
The prisoner then fills out a form BP-10, which goes to the nearest BOP
Regional Office. The director there has three months to respond. But
regional directors, logically, will support their wardens, not a prisoner.
Once the prisoner loses there, he fills out a BP-11, which goes to BOP
Headquarters in Washington. Headquarters has six months to respond.
The whole process, then, takes just under a year. But the BOP has two more
tricks up its sleeve. First, they backdate their responses. So if the warden
has to respond by September 1, let's say, but he doesn't actually respond
until October 15, he just backdates the response to September 1. So in
reality, the process takes more than a year. And a second tactic is if the
prisoner actually has a legitimate grievance, the BOP will just transfer him
to another prison. He then has to start the process all over again.
To make matters even worse, the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996,
coupled with a U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding it, has mandated that
all prisoners must exhaust the Administrative Remedy Process before they can
file a lawsuit.
Jeffrey Sterling doesn't have the luxury of time. He needs help immediately.
Please pick up your phone and demand treatment for him.
John Kiriakou is an associate fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies.
He is a former CIA counterterrorism officer and a former senior investigator
with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission
to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader
Supported News.
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socializehttp://e-max.it/posizioname
nto-siti-web/socialize
