Ed Kramer's new Petition for Writ of Certiorari

[noabogado]

I am the author of Ed Kramer's new Petition for Writ of Certiorari
to the United States Supreme Court, described below in Ed's 5/16/05 News
Release.

I was formerly a practicing Civil Rights and
Domestic Relations Lawyer for ten years in Phoenix, Arizona.
Ed's is the twelfth US Supreme Court Petition I've written. My other Petitions
include two U.S. Supreme Court Petitions for Writ of Habeas Corpus which
contributed legal pressure to the return of the Cuban boy,
Elian Gonzales, to his father.

I remain available to do your Supreme Court Brief. Eligibility: must be
within 90 days of having been turned down by a State's Supreme Court or by
a Federal Court of Appeals. No time extension is possible, so writing must
begin near the beginning of that 90 day period. Ed Kramer's brief was
begun only 5 weeks before the 90 day deadline, yet was filed on time.

To discuss feasibility, cost, details, contact me. No time to lose!

Robert A. Hirschfeld, JD (1984, Arizona State University)
noabogado@prodigy.net.mx or nolawyer@nolawyer.com
http://www.supremecourtpetition.com
PO Box 696, Lukeville AZ 85341

Date: Mon, 16 May 2005 19:20:40 -0000 From: "Ed Kramer Legal Defense" <administrator@edkramer.org>Subject: Deliberate Indifference by Gwinnett County and PHS in Supreme Court AppealDeliberate Indifference by Gwinnett County and Prison HealthServices, Inc. in Supreme Court AppealGEORGIA, May 16 - A Civil Rights Action brought against GwinnettCounty and Prison Heath Services, Inc. (PHS), et.al., for theirdeliberate indifference to a Georgia man's serious medical needs,has now been presented for consideration to the United StatesSupreme Court. Several organizations are preparing to enter AmicusBriefs in support of granting Certiorari. An on-line copy of theappeal is available athttp://members.aol.com/defensefund/petition.htmGwinnett County resident, Edward Kramer, was arrested in August,2000 and held at the Gwinnett County Detention Center (GCDC), acounty jail that contracts with PHS for all their medical needs.Kramer's complete, verified, voluminous jail records from his fivemonths of detainment show that PHS failed to provide him withminimally prescribed medications and tests, adequate and timelytreatments for acute medical needs, and access to appropriatemedical interventions for his worsening conditions. "Incarcerationbefore or after trial is not grounds for denying the vital healthtreatment to which every citizen is entitled," states attorneyRobert A. Hirschfeld, who drafted the appeal.The Gwinnett County Detention Center (GCDC) was opened in 1991 andwas originally designed for a total of 516 inmates; on May 8, 2005,there were 2,100 inmates crammed into the facility. Most recently,the video-captured death of GCDC detainee Frederick Williams has beenprominently featured in the news. After pleading with the deputiesnot to kill him, Williams was given five shocks to his chest with a50,000 volt TASER while in four-point restraints. It was the secondsuch reported death at the jail in eight months. Ironically, the on-going practice of torturing restrained inmates at GCDC wasdocumented in Kramer's Civil Rights action, in a witnessed affidavitreceived by both Gwinnett County and PHS prior to either of theaforementioned deaths."Based on the allegations of Mr. Kramer's complaint, and thesubsequent testimony of which we are aware, it appears that themedical and security staff at the Gwinnett County Detention Centerviolated every moral, ethical and professional standard that couldapply," states Isaac M. Jaroslawicz, former Executive Director andDirector of Legal Affairs of The Aleph Institute, a national non-profit organization providing assistance to the Federal Bureau ofPrisons and numerous state and local Departments of Correctionthroughout the United States.PHS is the nation's largest private, for-profit, prison HMOproviding medical care to inmates in American jail and prisons. TheAssociated Press reports that PHS defends itself against more than1,000 lawsuits on any given day. According to forensic consultant,Karen Russo, founder and director of The Wrongful DeathInstitute, "PHS contracts with comparatively low cost, inexperiencedand system-intimidated physicians and health care providers. Medicalrecords are compromised and misrepresented in pursuit of cost-reduction. Inappropriate or non-treatment of illness, withhelddoctor consultations, withheld medications, and administration ofincorrect medications are all easily documented. Incarceratedpatients incur both permanent disabilities or die."Following Kramer's initial bond hearing, Gwinnett County SuperiorCourt Judge Debra K. Turner requested a written statement from hisrheumatologist. The physician's letter, faxed to the jail'sadministrator under Judge Turner's own cover, concluded: "Mr. Krameris at risk for severe, recurrent, skin infection, complication ofarthritis, including blood borne seeding of diseased joint, whichwould be disastrous. I recommend evaluation and appropriatemanagement of his arthritis and skin disease." A copy was also filedwith PHS and placed in Petitioner's medical jail records.By the time Kramer was referred to a PHS-designated dermatologist,medical records show that 80% of his body was covered with psoriaticlesions. His medical treatment plan included prescribed medication,access to sanitary conditions, daily medicated baths, regularlaboratory monitoring and medical follow-up. PHS MedicalAdministrator Dwana Gebhardt, lacking any formal medical training,failed to implement the plan for the de facto reason of PHS's money-limiting policies. Against jail policy, records show that Gebhardteven required Kramer to provide proof of his own medical insurance,and then tried to bill them for treatment.Making matters worse, Kramer's cervical spine was injured at thejail when he then became victim of an unprovoked assault by a jailguard. According to testimony before Judge Turner, an MRI showedthat damage had occurred to Kramer's vertebrae and "if leftuntreated, could result in spinal cord damage and paralysis - lossof function of anything below the level of the neck. He could loseall ability to walk, talk, breathe, lower segments of therespiratory tract, and functions of bowel and bladder." He wasprescribed cervical support and bedding until he could be seen by aneurosurgeon, yet nearly three months later, PHS failed tofacilitate either. Even an unprecedented Court Order by the Judgecould not persuade PHS to comply.Most surprising in the case was the position that a portable, non-sacred bathtub was ordained a "baptismal pool" by the jail and thusdenied to Kramer, who is Jewish, from its use. Reverend ThomasColey's affidavit on record states: "[PHS] Medical personneladvanced rumors that Mr. Kramer had AIDS and some other incurablecommunicable disease, and that they were not going to waste theirtime or resources on 'that Jew.'" Coley was warned to stay awayfrom Kramer because "the Sheriff's Department is going to hang thatJewish son-of-a-*****."During his detention, Kramer was forced to wear blood-staineduniforms, sleep in blood-stained linens, and stay in a lice-contaminated cell, despite medical orders on record and his obviousvulnerable condition. He also contracted methicillin resistantstaphylococcus aureus (MRSA) during his incarceration. Oneinteresting note is that Georgia Senate Bill 297 became criminal lawin April 2000, making it a felony for aggravated cruelty by willfulneglect or physical harm while in custody – had he been a dog.Unfortunately, no such law exists for human inhabitants of Georgia'scounty jails. Hirschfield adds, "I also urge the public torecognize how Courts and Prison Officials are covering up theirgross health care misconduct in not only this, but apparently innumerous other jail and prison cases."Since his release to intensive home incarceration in January, 2001,Kramer has received over 850 medical treatments, about twenty timeswhat one individual would receive in a lifetime, yet his conditionshave not returned to his pre-jail state; some never will.Neurosurgery in May, 2001 indicated scarring to Kramer's spinalcord; a direct result of injuries sustained at Gwinnett CountyDetention Center, and blatantly ignored by PHS. He will return foradditional neurosurgery later this year. Nearly five years after hisarrest, Kramer has still yet to be given the right to a trial. Aweek after he submitted his Supreme Court Appeal, Gwinnett Countydelayed his hearing to 2006.If you are you are aware of an organization that would be interestedin being an amici on one of the briefs to be filed, please contactRebecca Bidwell at administrator@edkramer.org__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ____________________________________________For more information about the Ed Kramer Legal Defense, link to http://www.edkramer.org.

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