Dying in prison

Coroner Kenneth Holmes works to identify the cause of death when an inmate passes away under custody in Marin County, California.

After 12 years on the job, he finds dealing with the inmates' families "crushing", as they often ask him questions about the inmate's death that he can't answer. The Coroner's Office performs an autopsy on every person who dies in the county if the cause and matter of death is not clear.

Inmates, said Holmes, are treated just as any other person who dies in the county.

But the rules imposed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sets inmates apart. For security reasons, families of sick inmates are not allowed to visit if the inmate is too ill to go to the visiting areas of the prison or if they were transported to an outside hospital.

This often leaves families with no chance to say goodbye, even if their relatives inside prison are sick in a hospital bed for months.

This lack of closure and information, says Holmes, makes the process of mourning harder on the inmates' families.

Photos by Karen McIntyre
Reporting by Isabella Cota
Production by McIntyre and Cota

Mt. Tamalpais Mortuary and Cemetery, San Rafael, California

This piece is part of the 2010 News21 project "Behind Bars: The California Convict Cycle", produced in UC Berkeley.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• News21
• death
• dying behind bars
• dead inmate
• prison
• California
• CDCR
• Kenneth Holmes
• Coroner
• Marin County
• Isabella Cota
• Karen McIntyre
• funeral
• mortuary
• cemetery
• embalming
• cremation
• mourning

[marshalljimduncan]

I like how they blur out the bones, as if someone might recognize someone.

[iroc31407]

wow. this is sad...the person is dead, can't they be released from the prison even in their death and just have a normal funeral like everyone else? they're dead, they'll never see life again. why not give the family time to claim the bodies and then if no one responds, they can be buried/cremated in prison. why do they have to have a prison funeral?

[seancarm]

@iroc31407 They are given time to claim the body. Often the inmate is older and has limited family outside. Often nobody claims the body due to the expense of having a funeral. Cheaper to let the state take care of them.

[cyprixx]

@lordkreigs1978 OK, I thought about it. I'll take living forever. Always wanted an Ipad 2000.

[timestandstill2112]

What Cremation unit is that? Ive never seen that before.

[70zkidz]

@iroc31407 May depend on the prison. Makes sense they cremate a body- pretty sure if family wishes they can pay a mortuary to care for the body of their loved one. May depend on how a prisoner dies as well. If say someone was given lethal injection, body would be cremated then given to a person specified by the prisoner. Unfortunately a lot of prisoners are poor- or they wouldn't be in prison! Remember prisons are full of (sometimes innocent) poor- streets run rampant with (usually guilty) rich.

[iroc31407]

@70zkidz okay, so the bodies go home/or the families do make the choice first before they do anything else?

[IceYourPimpHand]

@marshalljimduncan Because them showing human bones isn't disturbing?

[70zkidz]

@iroc31407 they do not have to have a "prison funeral". Body or ash remains are given to the family of the deceased. Many folks have no family or family will not provide graves.

[lordkreigs1978]

Remember while death is sad, if we lived forever that would be sadder, think about it....

[DeadProphetsFate]

@GagasHooker life.