Andrea Circle Bear, an Indigenous woman from South Dakota, died in federal prison of COVID-19 yesterday, after giving birth to her baby by C-section, while on a ventilator in early April.
She began serving a sentence for a minor drug offense on March 20.thehill.com/policy/healthc…
She began serving a sentence for a minor drug offense on March 20.thehill.com/policy/healthc…
Ms. Circle Bear was married with children (the baby in the photo is not the baby to whom she just gave birth).
Authorities knew she had a high risk pregnancy and a pre-existing medical condition at the time she was admitted to prison.
Authorities knew she had a high risk pregnancy and a pre-existing medical condition at the time she was admitted to prison.
Ms. Circle Bear was in federal prison in Texas, but she was arrested and convicted in South Dakota.
Native people between the ages of 15 and 64 are incarcerated at 10 times the rate of white people in South Dakota.
trends.vera.org/rates/south-da…
Native people between the ages of 15 and 64 are incarcerated at 10 times the rate of white people in South Dakota.
trends.vera.org/rates/south-da…
Although Native people make up 8.7 percent of South Dakota’s population, they are roughly half of those booked into jails in the state.
And nearly half of all arrests in the state are drug or alcohol related, compared to just 29 percent nationally.
theappeal.org/south-dakota-l…
And nearly half of all arrests in the state are drug or alcohol related, compared to just 29 percent nationally.
theappeal.org/south-dakota-l…
This isn't about releasing people from prison. Ms. Circle Bear should never have been in prison. Native people shouldn't be jailed at a rate 10 times the rate of White people. People shouldn't be in prison for drug offenses. It's about not incarcerating people in the first place.
Ms. Circle Bear was a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
If you don't understand mass criminalization and incarceration as part of the continuing genocide of Native peoples then you aren't paying attention.
