To the Editor:
I would like to make public the conditions of the Marion County Jail. I was actually arrested on June 3, 2021. When I got arrested, the deputy who escorted me to the jail was aware that I needed to bring my seizure medication with me and he agreed. Upon being booked into the jail, I made sure the detention deputy, who was a female, knew that I had my seizure medication in my inventory and it needed to be given to the nurse. She said when I got into the dorm that I should mention it to the officer.
It took several hours to be booked into the jail and I was finally escorted to the dorm. Once I was in the dorm, I mentioned my medication because I had already missed a dose and started to worry. The officer said that the nurse would take care of giving me the medication. When the nurse came in, she said she had no record of the medication and that she would check on it. Of course, I mentioned it again to the officer and the officer did nothing. The nurse came in several hours later and still nothing. I started feeling bad and mentioned it to the officers, but they did nothing.
It was time for bed several hours later and I ended up falling asleep, but I had a nocturnal seizure which made me go unconscious. Other female inmates told me later that my lips turned blue and they were really worried. They even said when the female officers came in that they thought I was faking it which prolonged my care. They had to call a male officer to come pull me out of the bed which ripped off one of my fingernails and made me bite my tongue. There was blood all over my shirt which I later discovered.
They brought me in front of the nurses station and laid me on just a single thin sheet until I woke up. When I began to wake up, I didn’t know where I was. A female officer came out of the station and said I had a seizure and then looked down at my nails. She said, “You can’t have those in here, hold on a second.” She came back with scissors and handed them to me and made me cut my nails which was very painful.
The seizure actually prolonged me from being able to bond out and they lied to my mother. They didn’t even let her know what happened or call an ambulance. Besides this incident, I would like to make public the inhumane environment inmates are living in at the Marion County Jail. The portions of food have been reduced and inmates are being given the same meal every day with no change. They are eating a single piece of bologna and small portion of noodles. There is no water being given, and inmates have to go into the bathroom with their cup and get water out of the sink. The inmates are not being correctly supervised and mini-fights happen within the dorm.
A female officer actually took personal cellphone pictures of me being escorted during my seizure and I was on a stretcher. She showed them to [another inmate]. I knew he was being honest because he described exactly what I looked like in my condition, saying he saw the blood on my shirt and me being unconscious. They violated my rights.
Calah Sabilona
Ocala
Would you like to share your thoughts with us? Share them in a comment or by writing a Letter to the Editor.