I was a jailer for two years. Not proud of it, I needed the money.

One of the repeat offenders we had was an old man who was HIV positive. He went to jail several times while I was working there and always for the same thing. He would shoplift items from a store while in full view of a cop. This old man had a cane and could barely walk. There was no way he expected to get away with it.

After he was arrested we had to process him and the medical questions always led back to his HIV diagnosis. The state provided him with his HIV medication while he was awaiting trial where he always pleaded guilty. He was always released after serving less than 60 days pretrial. Upon release, he was given six months worth of his HIV medications (which he needed to survive) and he would shoplift again when he ran out of medication.

It would have been cheaper for the state to just give him the medications without him needing to be part of the criminal justice system first.

He was shoplifting so he could stay alive.

#Healthcare #luigimangione #denydefenddepose #Anticapitalism #EatTheRich