CANON CITY, Colo., Rudy Archuleta, a 52-year-old male inmate in the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) died recently at the Territorial Prison here from a heart attack - his second while incarcerated.
That an inmate died in prison is not news, unfortunately it happens all too often in our incarceration crazed society. However, Archuleta's passing is news, he is the latest victim to relieve a death sentence under Colorado's indeterminate - LIFE sentencing laws.
Archuleta was given a 6 - Life prison term for his crime and required to take mental health therapy as part of his condition for parole. He had finished his first phase of therapy during his fifth year of incarceration and had to wait another two years before starting the second phase of therapy. According to CDOC officials, the second phase is a maintenance phase and has no end, the inmate continues in this phase until they are paroled, or as in Archuleta's case - they die. Archuleta was on his seventh year behind bars when he died, having been denied parole several times, his prison term very much a death sentence.
The stated intent of Coloradans indeterminate sentencing, according to the State Judicial Department, is to, provide offenders the opportunity to progress in treatment...and be considered for parole, not to, “increase the minimum sentence'' of an inmate.
Those who knew Archuleta said that the, ''unknowing'' of his indeterminate sentence was hard on the inmate. That he constantly, ''stressed'' over not knowing when or IF he might be released from prison. This constant state of stress causes what medical professionals call, ''withering.'' It is impossible to prove that withering caused Archuleta's heart attacks, but it is also not hard to believe it did.
One inmate tried to explain the daily struggle of living under the indeterminate sentence like this, imagine being a kid again and waiting for a Christmas that never comes. Year after year you wait, and nothing, no Christmas...ever. It's torturer.” State mental health providers agree, alone of the most damaging and disorientating things you can do to a human is keeping them in a state of unknowing limbo, not able to predict their future...
maybe this year…maybe next...maybe never, inmates soon lose all hope, they wither under the constant stressed
As it turns out, hope is not warranted under Colorado's indeterminate sentencing laws. Colorado leads the country in handing down life sentences for nonviolent crimes, and no other state carries out these sentences with such extreme prejudice and lack of public oversight. Since its inception over a decade ago, less than 5 percent of those inmates eligible have been paroled. Thousands of men languish in prison years after their intended release date, some like Archuleta, have died in prison serving life on a lesser sentence. Inmates and family members wonder how many more will have to die by Colorado's unofficial death sentence before things change.
One inmate concludes, “It's what we all fear, it is the worst feeling in the world, I stare at the ceiling at night and wonder if I will grow old and die alone in prison serving life on a 2-year sentence, it makes me nauseated. People just don't seem to understand or care, but everyday past my release date is a lifetime.”
In the end Archuleta surrendered to Colorado’s death sentence, asking fellow inmates to pray for him, perhaps knowing his life behind bars was finally over.
If you would like to donate to help and Colorado's abusive indeterminate death sentencing send checks to: DOCCA Fund, C/O John Pineau PC., Grill Mansion, 2305 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80304.
Give before October 15, 2010 and your donation will be matched, doubling your contribution to end a decade of injustice in Colorado's prisons and bringing families back together again.
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