As a manager, I know full well the value of listening to the people who work for you and believing in them. However, that belief can't ever come at the expense of basic human decency. Yet A.J. Munchak wants us to believe that his original statements about the prison birth were nothing more than a case of a leader having faith in his staff (see today's article in The Scranton Times).
The one true fact in this entire mess is this: a baby was needlessly born in Lackawanna County's prison. No amount of damage control, no amount of spin, no amount of after-the-fact study can change this very basic fact. This woman should have been brought to a hospital IMMEDIATELY as soon as there was any indication of labor starting. What actually happened isn't a failure of policies or procedures, rather it's a failure on the part of prison staff and their leaders to act as decent human beings.
A.J. Munchak, Warden Donate and the implicated staff of Lackawanna County prison should be deeply ashamed.
-- Edited by Agamemnon at 17:42, 2007-08-16
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Free Speech does't require a multi-paragrah disclaimer Mr. Pilchesky.
I would like to preface this by saying I have not yet read the Times this morning.
While I understand and appreciate Ag's very valid statement, I can't help but lean toward giving the benefit of the doubt to Warden Donate. It's well known that everyone has 20/20 hindsight, but I can't actually see anyone -- especially a woman -- denying an expectant mother and her unborn child health care - without any reason whatsoever -- again, without any reason whatsoever.
Has anyone looked at the story from a different persepective and think about the mother being a whily little convict trying to get beyond the prison walls with an embellishment (lie is too strong a word) that is sure to get her there? Girlfriend didn't wind up in prison because she was an upstanding pillar of the community who was caught jaywalking. Maybe it is very probable that she had used this pregnancy as an excuse a time or two before and she was seen as the 'girl who cried wolf' once too many times. OK, so that last time, she told the truth and it jumped up and bit everyone on their collective asses - but she still had a month or so yet to go in her pregnancy and it very well could have been seen as yet another ruse. The warden is in charge -- not the prisoners.
Yes, this child was born in prison and it is indeed a shame, but why are people making this about the warden and her supposed bad judgment? Why isn't it about a knocked-up criminal, making excuses time and time again to get beyond the prison walls where she would have minimal or no security at Moses Taylor until the child was born a month or more down the road? Would this child have had a better life if she were born back home in New York or Jersey, or wherever the hell this Shakira or Shaniqua comes from? No -- chances are pretty good that mama'd still be working the streets to feed her habit du jour while the baby stayed at home with some cracked out babysitter. In a year or two the child would be yet another statistic.
Where is the child now? Is she being cared for? Is she being fed? Is she being clothed? Is a foster mother holding her and patting her little back and giving this tiny little angel the love she deserves? I'd say the answer is yes to all of the above. And that is as it should be, and not what I believe the child's life would be like if she were born of an incarserated criminal mother - whether she was born in a dank prison or at in a sterile hospital or in a slum in Jersey.
No, this is not about the warden.
And yes, AJ Munchak should be embarrassed - and for a looooong time. This situation is just the icing on the cake.
There should have been a clear policy in place, so the responsibility falls on the commissioners for not ensuring that all contingencies were considered, and the warden for not doing her job in implementing a policy. Although this is negligence, they do not deserve to be hanged.
The girl and her family have now become simply obnoxious. They are after money. Maybe then she can continue prostituting herself for drugs in a little bit of style.
Actually, I think Warden Donate is, on balance, doing a really good job at the prison. What's more I've read where she wasn't at the facility when this happened, so I don't view her as being personally negligent. That doesn't change, however, my opinion that this whole sad episode is shameful and that as leaders, A.J. Munchak and Warden Donate need to assume responsibility for it. That's what a leader does: they get the credit when things go well (as Warden Donate rightfully received on several occasions for other things she had done at the prison), but they also need to take the blame when things go bad. Mind you, I draw a distinction between taking blame and lynchings; in the case of Warden Donate, the good she has done far outweighs this really bad episode. But she is still responsible.
All the above brings me to why I posted in the first place...it seems that Commissioner Munchak tried to weasel out of assuming responsibility when this intially happened. What he should have said back then was "What happened clearly wasn't right...we need to look into it" or something like that. But no, instead he immediately decides to throw common sense out the window and somehow try to defend a baby being born on the floor of a cage by saying assinine things about policies and constant monitoring. Look, I don't work in a prison and I have no experience writing medical policies, but I can write this one: If a female prisoner goes into labor, take her to the hospital. Say what you want about moral qualities of the mother, but the child is 1000% innocent and deserved better.
As for the mother and the family, they will win the legal lottery here, so no doubt major electronics merchants in the hometown of the mother will eventually be very happy. Cynical, but probably true. Maybe the child will somehow benefit from all of this...probably not...but I can always hope.
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Free Speech does't require a multi-paragrah disclaimer Mr. Pilchesky.
I am certainly no advocate for AJ Munchak and I personally do not know Ms. Donate. But this prisoner is, by no means, blameless in this situation. This dame stepped in the luckiest pile of $hit the day this happened to her. She's going to make a bundle and the child will certainly suffer the consequences for her actions (yet again).
let's not talk about the mother anymore and degrade her any further. she has to live the rest of her life with her choices, as we all must. but considering that according to the prison board's internal investigation regarding this situation as printed in today's Times, SHE TOLD THE TRUTH. first and foremost, no child should be born under these circumstances. when this story first broke one of the things stated was that she had a problem pregancy and was taken to the doctor's twice weekly. why would someone imagine that with that history, you would be faking labor? they could very well have been responsible for a death. and still, AJ goes on and on. the apology was such a load of S^%$^%* and i can't believe that they got Judge Geroulo to make that statement and make it public.
