Some ppl—just look at the replies here—will point out that Wilhite was 70 and serving LWOP for murder, so “who cares.”
She was incarcerated in 1998—that’s 22 years. Far longer than murder sentences in other counties; longer than the stat MAX in many places.
And while the articles, as noted above, say it seems like “no foul play,” the incarceration itself surely contributed to her death.
A 70 yr old White woman has, on ave, another ~17 years ahead of her. This is a significantly early death. Surely causally linked to incarceration.
And let me head off the inevitable and tedious: “So you just care about killers; I care about her victim! What about THOSE years of life?!”
To point out the brutality and lethality of prison, and our unique and excessive reliance on it, is NOT, at ALL, to oppose ACCOUNTABILITY.
But does effectively killing someone in prison undo the harms she caused? Does it bring back the dead for their loved ones? Does it fill that hole?
Perhaps it satisfies blood-lust for some. But my guess is victims are, on average, better served in other, less brutalizing ways.
Regarldless: the level of mortality in Mississippi prisons right now is staggering.
The national media’s silence is staggering too.
I know there is... a lot... going on right now. But #ParchmanPrison is a legitimate scandal that demands notice.
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