Destination Freedom Media Group
This article is a testimony to the broadening reach and influence of the Davis Vanguard and Destination Freedom Media Group. It was prompted by an email sent to the Davis Vanguard in July 2024. It was a response to an article that I wrote in June 2024 about Wellpath, LLC (the largest for-profit jail health care provider in the United States) (link below)
WELLPATH’S FLAWED AND DEADLY COST CONTAINMENT PROGRAM
Part 1 – Who will protect the unborn babies?
https://1drv.ms/b/s!AkURCjxVvy29mdgVxjNw6F7vTL49LA?e=MYEgPB
On Monday July 1, 2024, Jeanelle Reanier sent this email to the Davis Vanguard:
https://1drv.ms/b/s!AkURCjxVvy29mdgZEymYsSifbcPKfQ?e=vk9SIt
David Greenwald, the editor of the Davis Vanguard, forward this email to my partner and colleague, Gale Washington on or around July 3, 2024. Gale shared it with me and thus we began to conduct our investigation. The facility in question is known as the Nisqually Correction Center also known as the Nisqually Tribal Jail (Nisqually Jail) located in Thurston County (Washington State) near Olympia. The victim of medical neglect and deliberate indifference was Kanaan Reanier, the 27-year-old son of Jeanelle Reanier, the author of the email. The Nisqually Tribe has agreements with other non-tribal entities in the surrounding area to house citizens who’ve been arrested by the local police inside the Nisqually Jail.
Jeanelle’s son, Kaanan, is a father of three and has had a history of mental illness and some medical issues.
In April 2016, 19-year-old Andrew Westling died only 24 hours after being booked into the tribal jail. Andrew had a history of heart problems.
The tribal settlement is not subject to state or federal disclosure laws because of the Nisqually Tribe’s status as a sovereign nation. This raised some red flags for Gale and I and the information Jeanelle shared with us confirmed our suspicions. However, the Andrew Westling case deserves more attention. As reported originally by Steve Miletich, Andrew Westling’s family retained lawyers, Erik Heipt and Edwin Budge. The attorneys employed experts who were able to provide insight into Andrew’s death at Nisqually Jail (Nisqually Correction Center). Heipt and Budge discovered that the contractual agreement between the Nisqually Tribe and local cities for the provision of jail services was unique in that they could not find a similar agreement between sovereign nations and cities/counties in any other jurisdiction within the United States.
Arthur Wallenstein was a director and jail administrator for King County’s Department of Adult Detention from 1990 to 1999. Mr. Wallenstein had a 40-year career as a corrections administrator. Mr. Wallenstein had this to say about jail personnel in regard to the mishandling of Andrew’s medical emergency – jail personnel: “…failed egregiously in their individual and collective duties to secure medical care for Westling.” He continued “I have rarely, if ever, seen such a blatant violation of basic corrections standard of care both on an individual and institutional level.”
It is imperative that our readers and all interested parties know that Jeanelle, the mother of Kanaan Reanier, was armed with this information regarding the death of Andrew Westling prior to reaching out to the Davis Vanguard and to our independent news organization. This is what fueled the desperation and anxiety in her original email. Gale, my partner and colleague, and Jeanelle began a weeklong, back and forth sharing of information and thoughts. Jeanelle’s research was extraordinary, and she discovered that the JAIL SERVICE AGREEMENT (contract) between the cities of Lacey, Yelm, Fife, Bonny Lake, and others with the Nisqually Tribe were illegal and potentially unconstitutional.
In 2016, former Washington State Attorney General, Rob McKenna, published a detailed opinion regarding the legality of the contractual relationships between cities and counties within Washington State and the Nisqually Indian Tribe. The question that was posed is this: “Is the Nisqually Jail Service Agreement entered into between the Nisqually Indian Reservation, a federally-recognized Indian tribe and the City of Yelm on or about December 10, 2013 legal under Washington law?” The short answer was as follows: “No. The contract (JSA) is not authorized by Washington law. First, the City and County Jail Act (RCW 70.48, et seq.) provides only for contracts between and among cities and counties for the provision of jail services. The City and County Jails Act does not authorize cities and counties to enter into contracts with Indian tribes or Indian reservations for the provision of jail services.” (emphasis added). Here, Gale and I attach the opinion by former AG Rob McKenna in its entirety.
When Jeanelle discovered that the contracts (JSA) were illegal, she began to contact local public servants from the City of Lacey, members of the Nisqually Tribal Council, and her Washington State representatives and senators. Kanaan’s health and safety was her primary concern. Here is a list of the public servants, tribal council members, and legislators who completely ignored Jeanelle’s plea for help. Pay close attention here because these are your tax dollars hard at work – or not.
CITY OF LACEY: Rick Walk, Andy Ryder, Malcolm Miller, Lenny Greenstein, Michael Steadman, Carolyn Cox, Robin Vasquez, and Nicholas Dunning.
Here we provide the photos and names of the state legislators who ignored Jeanelle and failed to respond: Maria Cantwell (Senator – no response); Patty Murray (Senator – no response); Marilyn Strickland (Rep – no response); Dan Griffey (State Rep – no response); Travis Couture (State Rep said they “cannot become involved in that process as the courts have jurisdiction.”).
The only meaningful response that Jeanelle received was from Senator Drew MacEwen’s legislative assistant who spent approximately one hour on the phone with Jeannelle and admitted that the illegality of the contract between Nisqually Tribal Jail and the City of Lacey (and others), is a problem that must be investigated. It is our opinion that if the contracts between the city and the tribe are illegal, then most assuredly the contract with Wellpath by default is illegal.
One thing that needs to be accentuated here is that when your constituents have a problem, each of you as public servants should act and at the very least respond to the concerns and complaints of the people whose tax dollars are paying your salaries.
However, there are some complex legal issues here that must be addressed. When crimes are committed on tribal lands, especially when people are killed or die from neglect, the federal authorities (FBI/US Attorney’s Office) are responsible for those investigations. The FBI falls under the umbrella of the US Department of Justice. A special law known as CRIPA gives the Department of Justice the authority to investigate issues inside a place like Nisqually Tribal Jail. Allow us to share an excerpt of a letter that I received from the DOJ in 2015: “The Special Litigation Section of the United State Department of Justice has the authority, pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), 42 U.S.C. Section 1997, to investigate complaints concerning conditions in state or locally operated institutions, including prisons, jails, and correctional facilities. When a systematic ‘pattern of practice’ of the deprivation of constitutional rights is determined to exist, we have the authority to initiate civil action against state or local officials to remedy the unconstitutional conditions.”
There are grieving and worried mothers like Jeanelle all across the United States. They are White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, Arab, and indigenous people who are victimized by a system whose mantra is “profits by any means necessary no matter who we harm.” U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is well aware of the “pattern of practice” exhibited by Wellpath, LLC. In fact, numerous U.S. legislators have vocalized their distrust of this for-profit prison health care giant. Nevertheless, Congress has done nothing; no laws have changed, and no accountability has been had. How many more lives must be lost before federal and state judges come together and say, “enough is enough”?
Gale and I have found serious flaws in federal law when it comes to corporations like Wellpath LLC being held liable or accountable when imprisoned plaintiffs file federal civil lawsuits. Our experience has shown us that Section 1983 (federal civil complaints) does not allow incarcerated plaintiffs to name for-profit corporations like Wellpath, GEO Group, and CoreCivic defendants in civil lawsuits. Furthermore, Bivens complaints (which are used by federal inmates) have the same flaw. Now, we call it “a flaw,” but actually we believe that these legal loopholes were created purposely in order to shield these unsavory actors from accountability when they harm incarcerated people. Every federal judge in the United States is aware of this problematic anomaly in prison/jail civil litigation.
The case, Correction Service Corporation vs. Malesko, 534 U.S. 61, illustrates in part this “flaw” that Gale and I have discovered. “The private corporate entity at issue here is readily distinguishable from the federal agency in Meyer. Indeed, a tragic consequence of today’s decision is the clear incentive it gives to corporate managers of privately operated custodial institutions to adopt cost-saving policies that jeopardize the constitutional rights of tens of thousands of inmates in custody.”
BUT WHAT ABOUT WELLPATH?
We have spent a lot of time and energy discussing Nisqually Jail and their flawed contract with the cities, but we feel compelled to provide some detailed and analytical data which illustrates the systemic problems which arise when jails and prisons contract with Wellpath. Jeanelle was obviously concerned with the mental health condition of her son and the lackluster treatment he was receiving. However, what she was also concerned about is the strong possibility that Kanaan would decompensate and placed at greater risk from neglect of adequate medical care.
Here we share information that we discovered in specific articles by Conrad Wilson that discuss Wellpath’s history specifically in facilities located in the Northwest (Oregon and Washington).
- For a third time a federal judge has ruled that Wellpath — one of the nation’s largest for-profit providers of health care to people in prisons and jails — wrongfully deleted emails connected to in-custody deaths
Oregon jail health care provider destroyed evidence and tried to cover it up, judge finds
https://www.opb.org/article/2024/10/03/josephine-county-jail-wellpath/
In a second article written by Conrad Wilson entitled, Booked and Buried: The Death Toll in Northwest Jails (link below), we uncovered a theme that we have trumpeted in our previous articles numerous times. The point is this, being arrested should not be a death sentence. A detainee has only been charged with a crime at the time of arrest. Each detainee has the right to be arraigned and if enough evidence presented to be bound over for trial. What is happening in jails throughout the country is that these detainees are being given a death sentence prior to their arraignments at the hands of jail staff. However, jail staff and local sheriffs are exacerbating the problem by contracting with Wellpath. What’s remarkable is that Wellpath has cornered the market of for-profit prison health care and, therefore, there are not any better choices.
https://www.opb.org/news/article/jail-deaths-oregon-washington-data-tracking/
In order to fully comprehend the enormity of the problem and the urgent need to solve it, we highly recommend that you read and study the article, The Private Option.
Ladies and gentlemen, all three branches of our government are complicit here: the Judiciary, the legislative branch, and the executive branch. As the nation demonizes Luigi Mangione, there is a very vocal minority who feels and understands his desperation and pain. We have never condoned or promoted violence, whether it be political or otherwise, yet how can we ignore these horrible flaws that are hurting so many of our fellow citizens?
Gale and I still believe that change in America can be achieved without the use of violence. If you still believe, help us fight by pressuring your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives to launch a thorough and fact-finding investigation into the nefarious practices of Wellpath LLC and Nisqually Jail who are complicit in the mistreatment, abuse, and deaths of our loved ones. We need to send a message to our legislators that these loopholes and workarounds within the law will no longer be tolerated.
Malik Washington is a freelance journalist and Director at Destination: Freedom and Destination Freedom Media Group.
