Judge blasts Bureau of Prisons' treatment of dying prisoner
The Justice Department has launched an internal investigation of the Bureau of Prisons after a federal judge issued a blistering court order saying the agency "should be deeply ashamed" for what he called "its demonstrated contempt for the safety and dignity of the human lives in its care."
A ruling last week by U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. heaps scorn upon the agency's handling of the case of Frederick Mervin Bardell, 54, who died last year of colon cancer. The judge said the Bureau of Prisons repeatedly fought Bardell's efforts for compassionate release and specialized treatment and, in his final days, left him outside an airport, extremely weak and seriously ill and in need of assistance to get home to his family.
"The treatment Mr. Bardell received in the last days of his life is inconsistent with the moral values of a civilized society and unworthy of the Department of Justice of the United States of America," the judge wrote, accusing the Bureau of Prisons of ignoring explicit court orders and asking the Justice Department to investigate.
On Friday, the Justice Department inspector general's office announced it was opening an investigation of the case.
Bardell had served most of a 12-year sentence for distributing child pornography when, in late 2020, he asked for compassionate release from a prison in Seagoville, Tex., to receive specialized treatment for colon cancer. Justice Department lawyers argued against his release, saying he could receive adequate treatment in prison and suggesting he might not have cancer, according to court papers.
Months later, Bardell was much sicker and again asked Dalton, an Orlando-based federal judge who presided over Bardell's sentencing, to release him for medical care. This time, the judge agreed and ordered the Bureau of Prisons to create a release plan. Instead, according to the judge, the Bureau of Prisons dumped Bardell on the sidewalk of the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.
His parents paid for a plane ticket home, but Bardell, "who had a tumor protruding from his stomach and was visibly weak and bleeding, unsurprisingly soiled himself during this not so bon voyage," the judge wrote.
During the trip, Bardell relied on a fellow passenger to help get him off the first leg of the journey, Dalton wrote. "Once Mr. Bardell's parents were reunited with their son and attempted to get him in the car, his father had to take off his own shirt and put it on the seat of [his lawyer's] car to absorb the blood and feces," the judge noted.
Bardell's parents drove him straight to a hospital, where the former prisoner died nine days later, according to the judge's opinion. It noted that a doctor estimated that Bardell would have had a 71 percent chance of survival if he had received earlier diagnosis and treatment.
As part of his contempt ruling, Dalton ordered the Bureau of Prisons to reimburse Bardell's parents for the cost of the flight and pay about $200,000 for the cost of a lawyer appointed to review Bardell's treatment. "These consequences," the judge wrote, "are, unfortunately, grossly inadequate to address the callous disregard for Mr. Bardell." He ordered the agency to pay the family by Monday.
Dalton wrote that he hoped the case would "illuminate the BOP's arrogant - and wholly mistaken - notion that it is beyond reproach and the reach of the Court. . . . This Court will do everything in its power to ensure that the BOP is held to account for its demonstrated contempt for the safety and dignity of the human lives in its care."
Colette Peters, the director of the Bureau of Prisons, said in a statement that "my heart goes out to Mr. Bardell's family, to whom I send my deepest condolences. Humane treatment of the men and women in Bureau of Prisons custody is a paramount priority. In instances where we have failed at upholding our mission, we are taking steps to find out what happened, how it happened, and how we can prevent it from happening in the future."
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