Daniel Boone: Offender, Prisoner, HIV-Infected Pedophile - Case Study

Introduction

Daniel Boone was an offender and a prisoner #539628, who was housed in administrative segregation. He was imprisoned after being found guilty of sexual harassment of small children, and the judge, having been convinced that he is a pedophile, Boone was sentenced to imprisonment. However, it is essential to note that Boone has been in and out of prison several times, and the last time out, he was infected with the HIV virus after Boone had slept with a prostitute. The inmate's sleeping with a prostitute was informed after he had a desire towards the prostitutes five- year girl. Recently, he has started attacking female correctional officers, who are assigned to the particular section in his cell block. This has made me, as the shift lieutenant, to stop assigning female correctional officers to him. However, this is against the policy of the correctional facilities, as anyone, regardless of gender, should be assigned to any section of the facility. The bigger problem is that he had even started attacking male officers when he realized that no new females were assigned to him. Having recognized the mess that he was causing, and the institutional policy and a legal perspective, I attached Officer Coyote, a female officer who has always done her duty thoroughly to fix the system. However, the engagement of the officer and the inmate led to the offender's death in unclear circumstances.

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Daniel Boone: A Troubled Offender in Administrative Segregation

Police officers are required and expected to follow specific guidelines regarding ethics in their line of duty. This is defined in the code of ethics that was stipulated in the correctional laws of the land. However, the ethical presentations offer massive ethical dilemmas when upholding the law. One of the ethical issues that face correctional officers includes supporting the law and maintaining their human rights (Pollock, 2016). This is a problem that can be noted in the case of Boone management in the correctional facility. It should be noted that Boone has been in administrative segregation since he is dangerous to his inmates. Boone is HIV positive, and can easily infect his inmates, which would be unethical.

Since learning of his disease, Boone has become more violent and can do anything and unspeakable things to punish anyone, especially children. Recently, he had been mixing his semen, blood, and feces, which can pass the virus, and chuck them to the female and even male correctional officers assigned to his block. Therefore, Boone is deservedly segregated to protect the human rights of inmates and officers on duty. Besides, the courts have severally supported the denial of inmates' human rights of association and adherence to segregation, for the greater good of others, if they are a risk to contract the virus to others.

The Rising Issue of Sexual Abuse and Violence in Prisons

Although some of the sexual engagements in the prisons are consensual, rape and sexual abuse have been a prevalent exercise in the states. It has been estimated that about twenty five percent of the prisoners in the US suffer sexual violence annually, with about two percent being raped. Besides, reports by the Department of Justice have demonstrated that the allegations of sexual abuse are increasing. There is a high prevalence of cases of officers sexually assaulting inmates. However, many cases of sexual assault by inmates to the correctional officers have been reported in the recent past.

Challenges Faced by Female Correctional Officers

Women are mostly attacked by male inmates, as they are viewed as weak (Bell et al. 1999). As the shift lieutenant, I have noted that Boone is assaulting the female officers, which was against their rights. Therefore, I had a duty to protect them. Besides, any officer would work in any section; hence, I did not see any problem with letting them work in other areas and allowing men to work in that section. This was informed from an ethical perspective in the correctional facility, as opposed to the policy perspective. However, I knew that I had a duty to protect the individual rights of all officers.

The situation in the correctional facility became complicated when Boone started attacking the male officers. This may have been after the realization that female officers would no longer be assigned to his block. It is important to note that Boone has been attacking officers with substances that can infect them with the HIV virus. Therefore, it is crucial to consider the ethical issues of human rights when handling such a case. Besides, the claims of brutality in the prisons for inmates towards the correctional officers have become rampant. Therefore, prisons are unsafe places for the officers, and the guards must be wary of the environment with assaults being the order of the day.

Also, the perpetual threat towards the safety of the officers is a significant challenge when dealing with unruly inmates (Pollock, 2016). Therefore, I considered this challenge in the correctional facility when making the aforementioned decisions. However, the inmate, too, has a right to be attended to. Although Boone was segregated, he had a right to be assigned officers for various duties. This created an ethical dilemma regarding balancing the rights of the inmate and the individual rights of the inmate. Therefore, the dilemma led me to assign, Officer Coyote, who has a clean record in managing her work, despite the allegations for excessive work. This did not, however, work well with all good intentions, as the officer's engagement with the inmate led to the demise of the inmate under unclear circumstances.

Unequal Treatment and Ethical Considerations

Unequal treatment is common in correctional facilities. It should be noted that just like in the classroom, some prisoners are more likable than others. Some of the prisoners are funny, others angry, and others are prone to violence. Despite these behavioral differences, correctional facility workers must apply the regulatory rules equally to all the inmates (Konrad, Vollm, & Weisstub, 2013). However, some of the characters of the inmates have demonstrated a considerable challenge regarding the management of the prisoners. This is the case of Boone, who is violent to the officers, including risk, to infect them with HIV. Therefore, while he has a right to be attended to according to the applicable laws, the officers must be careful when attending to him.

It is based on the nature of the inmate that I assigned officer Coyote to the inmate, considering that she has a recording in handling complicated situations and characters. I understand that it is unethical for a correctional officer to threaten an inmate, let alone engage in fights. However, I did not get any confirmation that officer Coyote engaged in a confrontation or triggered a fight with the inmate. The problem is that the camera footage is obstructed, and it is not clear what could have caused it. Although it seems suggested the water-like substance that blocked the footage may have come from Boone's cell, it is not evident.

Officer Coyote's Assignment and the Tragic Outcome

Although there is no evidence to link the officer with an act of aggression towards the inmate, I must admit that the two had a history. When I mentioned to officer Coyote that she would work at Block E, where an inmate Boone is maintained, she is surprised and shows bitterness while correctly identifying the inmate. The officer had started to narrate a flashback that must have happened when she was ten years ago, a possible engagement between the officer and the inmate back then. Although I realized that officer Coyote was bitter and kind of wanted revenge, I did not stop him as there was no indication of violence or what she would correctly do. I also believed that the officer was in her line of duty and would always act responsibly guarded by the laws in the correctional facilities.

Therefore, I cannot convincingly point that officer Coyote is responsible for the demise of the inmate or not. Besides, the only eye witness testified that the offender had come out of the cell first to attack officer Coyote. Therefore, it is also possible that the officer was acting out of self-defense. Boone had a history of attacking women as illustrated, so there is also a possibility he attacked officer Coyote like all other female officers, especially now that he had not engaged with a female officer for some time.

All police officers have the authority to make use of an excessive force within the law, to uphold the law. However, some cases have been significantly excessive and, hence, unjustified. In this regard, ethical issues have faced police officers, including correctional officers each day. The problem is putting a line between excessive force and putting their lives in danger when they deal with inmates who are non-compliant and uncooperative (Bell et al. 1999). Therefore, officers in the correctional facilities must make a split-second decision regarding the amount of force that is necessary depending on the situation.

In this case, there is a possibility that officer Coyote used excessive force when dealing with the inmate. However, there is no such suggestion as the only evidence available testified to the contrary. Therefore, there is a possibility, just like officer Coyote mentioned in her statement that the inmate fell off accidentally while trying to attack Coyote. Besides, their history would have made the inmate be more aggressive and react differently compared with how he was acting before.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the case of inmate Boone in the correctional facility, especially his engagement with officer Coyote, offers many instances of ethical considerations when handling the case. To correctly interpret the actions, it is imperative to consider ethical frameworks and legal frameworks in the analysis of the individual activities. It should be noted that the law must be upheld at all times and that correctional officers such as Coyote have a duty to enforce the law whenever dealing with an inmate. However, ethical requirements are crucial in judging a situation, as officers are bound for protection from criminals. It is, therefore, essential to look at all underlying factors when making a report and analyze all the evidence available. As it stands, the inmate and the officer had an engagement, although it is not clear who was wrong during the engagement.

References

Bell, C., Coven, M., Cronan, J., Garza, C., Guggemos, J., & Storto, L. (1999). Rape and sexual misconduct in the prison system: analyzing America's most "open" secret. Yale Law & Policy Review, 18(1), 195-223. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40239519

Dickerson, C. (2018). Hazing, humiliation, terror: working while female in federal prison. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/17/us/prison-sexual-harassment-women.html

Konrad, N., Vollm, B., & Weisstub, D. N. (2013). Ethical issues in prison psychiatry. Dordrecht: Springer.

Pollock, J. M. (2016). Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.