ST. LOUIS — The MacArthur Justice Center in St. Louis (MJC-STL) has challenged the Missouri Department of Corrections’ (MDOC) denial of parole consideration for a dying man housed in its hospice unit. Given less than six months to live by MDOC’s own medical staff, fifty-eight-year-old Walter Hunter seeks to relieve MDOC of the burden of paying his end-of-life costs and to die with dignity in his family’s care. MDOC refuses to even consider the request claiming it is prohibited from doing so by state law.

But according to a lawsuit filed by lawyers with MJC-STL, Missouri sentencing law makes clear that any dying inmate may be considered for what is called “Medical Parole.” “It is remarkable to us that the Missouri Department of Corrections is seeking to avoid application of the law as written to cases of inmates like our client who are on death’s doorstep, in need of constant assistance, and an extreme financial burden on the prison system,” says Mae Quinn, Director of the MJC-STL office.

‘At a time when the Department of Corrections is actively trying to save money on things like caskets, the position of its Parole Board seems not only inhumane, but irrational,” adds Amy Breihan, MJC-STL Staff Attorney.

Indeed, just a few days ago the press reported on efforts by MDOC to reduce its $62,000 state-wide budget for prisoner burial expenses by seeking proposals for the cheapest wooden boxes and grave liners available. “Yet,” according to Quinn, “the prison system continues to spend money each year on emergency medical costs for terminally ill inmates who are no threat to anyone.

The Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis is a non-profit, public interest law firm that advocates criminal justice reforms. Launched this summer, the St. Louis office is the newest for MacArthur Justice, which has attorneys in Chicago (at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law), New Orleans, and at the University of Mississippi Law School. The Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center was founded in 1985 by the family of J. Roderick MacArthur to advocate for human rights and social justice through litigation. It has led battles against myriad civil rights injustices, including modern debtors’ prison practices, police misconduct, inadequate representation in criminal and juvenile cases, and wrongful convictions.