I was not sentenced to death.

   
Listen to, and read, a statement from Cynthia Scott who is currently incarcerated at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Troy, Virginia. Ms. Scott, one of the five plaintiffs in our lawsuit addressing the insufficient medical care in the facility in 2012, is now living in fear for her life due to what would likely happen when the coronavirus spreads through the site.  

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Click below to listen to the statement read by her daughter. 
   

“My name is Cynthia Scott.  I am a 50 year old veteran who has been incarcerated for 21 years now.  I have kidney disease, asthma, and sarcoidosis, a condition that affects my lungs.  I have to take immunosuppressant medicine so I basically have no immune system.  I learned last week that I am in kidney failure and will have to start dialysis soon.

I live in a wing with 27 other women.  Most women have to share a cell, and we all have to share the same showers and living space.  Many of these women are older and have health problems like diabetes and heart conditions.  It is impossible for us to keep six feet away from each other. 

I know that my medical problems mean that I have a high risk of dying from the coronavirus if I catch it.  I am scared to death.  I can’t sleep and am losing weight.  I am afraid that even if women start to get sick here, they will not tell people about their symptoms because they are afraid of being isolated and left alone without good medical care.  Then the sickness will spread faster.

I have been here for 21 years and have never needed medication for mental health.  But now I am so terrified about what is coming that the prison has put me on antidepressants.

I was not sentenced to death, and I don’t want to die here.  But I am afraid I will when the coronavirus comes.”