We need to find Jesse a new show to watch.

Jesse, have you seen [link] yet? It's very funny.

Based on what my friend in the public defender's office says, I'd be amazed if anyone checks records. Well, ok, not that really cynical, but from the stories she tells, I'm sometimes amazed it is functional. Of course, I'm just getting the juicy, fucked up stories, because those are good telling, while the mundane are just that.

To Nutty, re PB:

"How about giving yourself a margin for error? Generally speaking, federal death sentences take years to carry out, even when people drop their appeals (as Timothy McVeigh did). Don't procrastinate till the last minute!"

They did have a line of dialogue about how people in the system are expediting big brother's execution. And is this a federal prison? Totally spaced on that. Because generally speaking murder, even of the v.p.'s brother, is a state crime.

"Generally speaking, death row inmates are not allowed to mix with ordinary inmates. They're in separate housing, on different routines, and would never be allowed to spend time with their armed-robbing brethren. Because, hello! Death row inmates have a lot less to lose, and might do something untoward like commit suicide and obviate the right of the state to kill him.."

They addressed this too, and he's only able to see his brother in chapel and my machinating a spot on the job circuit. Still some hand-waving but at least they didn't just have big bro running around the prison yard.

"AmyLiz is right on the diabetes front, and if it's Type 1, then he should have medical records going back to his childhood or teens. Because, how do you get insulin without going to a doctor/clinic? You don't. And how do diabetics do without insulin? They get gangrene in their feet and go blind from poor circulation. Considering they did all that research to verify that a man on an insulin overdose will see his hands shake, they could have done a tiny bit more research, you know?"

You're right about the need for medical records, but the absence of medical records isn't going to keep a doctor from administering insulin at the beginning, since that's not going to kill him. Unfortunately, records get lost all the time. And she did the right thing by arranging to test him as soon as he showed signs of not having diabetes, which is a much faster way of determining diabetes than trying to track down old medical records that appear to have gotten lost in the shuffle. Also, in my experience, prison medical facilities are not nearly as efficient about medical records as civilian facilities are.

ETA: Inevitable bon bon x-post, and sorry for the long whitefont, folks.

this is the criminal justice and/or penal system, and the idea that people always check records is kind of ludicrous.

I do remember reading an article in the Times some years back, about a mentally ill man from New York who was mistaken for a Los Angeles felon, imprisoned in California based on the resemblance, and kept there for TWO YEARS before anybody thought to check oh things like fingerprints.

I mean, the LA felon did not have a history of mental illness; they were not really the same age; they didn't look that much alike (except for Black Man Syndrome); dude was from New York; and FINGERPRINTS. Hello!

I hope his mom in New Jersey filed a really big lawsuit on his behalf.

Jesse, have you seen [link] yet? It's very funny.

Nice.

DH works with a company that makes 911 sofware, plus records software, and software for jails, and for courts. I 've done software testing for the stuff. It gets complicated to get all the records co-ordinated and pulled ogether. figureing out that the Tom Smith you arrested last night is the same person as Tommy Smith that you arrested 3 months ago - not as easy as you think. I haven't seen this show , but record screw ups - pretty easy.

Wolfram, but as a diabetic, he would still need shots at least once a day. The only diabetics who get around that use a pump, which clearly wouldn't be allowed here. If you need insulin, you need it every day, not every *few* days. That's my issue. I can totally see him getting away with pretending to *be* a diabetic, given the fallibility of tracking medical records and/or falsifying them, but convincing the viewers that he can be called down to the infirmary every few days is just silly. Just one of those things I can't handwave, having experience with it.

The WWL anchors are talking about the inevitable PTSD that will result from people being unable to get back into the city.

um.

I think Amy called that one right. The timeline is a little confusing, especially since I imagine the balance of the season is supposed to be the 30 days prior to execution.

This weekend? I asked a girl out, and she said yes.

YAY Tom! That is awesome news!

Dana, your family is in my thoughts. I hope you're able to get in touch with them soon.