R.I.P. Frank McCoy 1943-2020

Baal

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May 1, 2020, 7:07:33 PM5/1/20

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I recently learned that Frank McCoy died on April 2nd, 2020. I learned this through the prisoner locator website maintained by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

Previously, one could see Frank's information as follows:

FRANK RUSSELL MCCOY
Register Number: 13781-041
Age: 75
Race: White
Sex: Male
Located at: Elkton FCI
Release Date: 08/03/2024

FRANK RUSSELL MCCOY - 13781-041
FCI Elkton
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 10
LISBON, OH 44432

It has now been replaced by this entry:

FRANK RUSSELL MCCOY
Register Number: 13781-041
Age: 76
Race: White
Sex: Male

Deceased: 04/02/2020

Frank was just over the half-way point of a 10 year sentence imposed in November/December 2015, at the time of his death.

Baal <Ba...@Usenet.org>
PGP Key Fingerprint: 40E4 E9BB D084 22D5 3DE9 66B8 08E3 638C 1E92 C0E8
- --

Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?" -- "Who will watch the Watchmen?"
-- Juvenal, Satires, VI, 347. circa 128 CE

If you accept that freedom of speech is important, then you are going to
have to defend the indefensible. -- Neil Gaiman

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are
free." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"We learned during the McCarthy era that when the State gets behind a moral
panic, no one is safe." -- Bob Chatelle

Modern Conservative: Someone who can take time out from demanding more anti-
gay laws, more abortion laws, more drug laws, more obscenity laws, and more
police authority to make warrantless arrests to remind us that we need to
"get the government off our backs".

Mistrust those in whom the urge to punish is strong.
--Friedrich Nietzsche

He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from
oppression.
-- Thomas Paine
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Aubergine

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May 8, 2020, 8:14:24 AM5/8/20

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I'm deeply sorrry to hear that. We had good times in long bygone locations
with long bygone mates. RIP, Frank.

--

Aubergine©

The Sot Weed Factor

Baal

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May 11, 2020, 1:32:24 PM5/11/20

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On Fri, 8 May 2020 12:14:22 GMT, Aubergine <Aube...@TheOven.com> said:

> I'm deeply sorrry to hear that.

Same here. After some thought, I have come to the conclusion that Frank very
likely died from Covid-19, given the timing, coupled with his pre-existing
medical conditions: three cardiac stents, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
All of these put Frank at extreme risk of mortality from the virus.

Some news stories I've read recently have revealed that the infection rate
of Covid-19 in Ohio prisons was/is upwards of 80%. Someone like Frank should
have been released to a half-way house given his health conditions. If that
had been done, Frank might very well still be with us.

Covid-19 has now clearly revealed what has long been going on in Western
society in general (and American society in particular): the poor, disabled,
racial minorities and especially prisoners are all considered diposable.

> We had good times in long bygone locations with long bygone mates.
> RIP, Frank.

Thanks so much for replying. It's good to see you again.

> --
> Aubergine©
>
> The Sot Weed Factor

Baal <Ba...@Usenet.org>
PGP Key: http://zimmermann.mayfirst.org/pks/lookup?op=vindex&search=0x1e92c0e8&fingerprint=on

PGP Key Fingerprint: 40E4 E9BB D084 22D5 3DE9 66B8 08E3 638C 1E92 C0E8
- --

Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?" -- "Who will watch the Watchmen?"
-- Juvenal, Satires, VI, 347. circa 128 CE

If you accept that freedom of speech is important, then you are going to
have to defend the indefensible. -- Neil Gaiman

"We learned during the McCarthy era that when the State gets behind a moral
panic, no one is safe." -- Bob Chatelle

Aubergine

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May 13, 2020, 6:23:58 AM5/13/20

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On 13-May-2020, wrote:

> On Fri, 8 May 2020 12:14:22 GMT, Aubergine <Aube...@TheOven.com> said:
>
> > I'm deeply sorrry to hear that.
>
> Same here. After some thought, I have come to the conclusion that Frank
> very
> likely died from Covid-19, given the timing, coupled with his pre-existing
>
> medical conditions: three cardiac stents, high blood pressure, and
> diabetes.
> All of these put Frank at extreme risk of mortality from the virus.
>
> Some news stories I've read recently have revealed that the infection rate
>
> of Covid-19 in Ohio prisons was/is upwards of 80%. Someone like Frank
> should
> have been released to a half-way house given his health conditions. If
> that
> had been done, Frank might very well still be with us.
>
> Covid-19 has now clearly revealed what has long been going on in Western
> society in general (and American society in particular): the poor,
> disabled,
> racial minorities and especially prisoners are all considered diposable.

Same here. I wonder why I don't have to wear something like a badge saying
"this guy might fall apart any time, and it would save us some money"
I don't deny there is a problem, but some folks sure know how to make use of
it. Well, I help them. I am going to make a TShirt today which clearly
identifies me as a threat to society.
What really hurts is this 70 % of the population begging for tyranny. Makes
me puke.

>
> > We had good times in long bygone locations with long bygone mates.
> > RIP, Frank.
>
> Thanks so much for replying. It's good to see you again.

I've never been away.:)

Baal

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May 26, 2020, 2:47:11 AM5/26/20

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Some further information has come to light on the circumstances of Frank's
death in custody this past April. It turns out that FCI Elkton, the prison
in Ohio where Frank was incarcerated, was one of three Covid-19 hotspots in
the entire U.S. Bureau of Prisons-run institutions. The situation was /so/
bad in these institutions that even the Attorney-General, Bill Barr himself
singled-out FCI Elkton as one of the worst of these institutions.

I stumbled across a news story on Commondreams.org, which mentioned FCI
Elkton -- this was the facility that housed the late Frank McCoy.

ACLU Asks Supreme Court to Deny Bureau of Prisons Request to
Block Order That Will Save Lives

BOP has failed to effectuate judge-mandated reduction of
population at Elkton Prison.

WASHINGTON - This morning, the American Civil Liberties Union
and the ACLU of Ohio filed an opposition brief with the U.S.
Supreme Court, asking the court to deny the government's request
to stay the preliminary injunction — ordered by United States
District Judge James S. Gwin last month — at Elkton Federal
Correction Institution. This is the first time the Trump
administration has asked the Supreme Court to block an order
that would protect prisoners from COVID-19.

In a rebuke this week, Judge Gwin noted that one in four people
tested at Elkton had tested positive for COVID-19, and that the
BOP was required to expedite the transfer and release of the 837
members of the medically-vulnerable subclass to home confinement
and compassionate release. Nine people have died at the prison,
making it one of the more deadly BOP-run prisons during this
pandemic.

The ACLU's brief made reference to prisoner deaths and, in particular,
mentioned 3 prisoners by name, one of whom was Frank McCoy. Here are some
excerpts from that ACLU brief:

1 INTRODUCTION

In few places is the deadly threat of COVID-19 more amplified
than in the cramped, overcrowded environment of prisons. And
among federal prisons, the Attorney General himself has singled
out the facility at Elkton, Ohio, as one of the worst.

[...]

2 Congress has provided the Federal Bureau of Prisons with a
collection of tools to attempt to ameliorate situations like
Elkton's, including recently expanded authority to move prisoners
to home confinement.

Nearly two months ago, Attorney General William Barr exhorted
the wardens of the BOP’s three worst COVID-19 hotspots, including
Elkton, to use these tools "with dispatch" to move as many people
as possible to safety. But the Government did not do so. By the
time this case was filed, on April 13, three Elkton prisoners were
dead. By the end of this case's first week, the death toll had
doubled.[2] By May 8, it grew to 9. Now, 20 more people are
hospitalized and 8 intubated. And nearly 1 in 4 prisoners (of
those who have been tested) are infected.

Recognizing that the unmitigated deadly risks to Elkton prisoners
warrant relief, the District Court crafted a carefully circumscribed
preliminary injunction to implement the habeas remedy of enlargement,
affording substantial discretion to prison officials, using nothing
but countermeasures already available to the Government. On April 22,
the District Court ordered the Government to identify members of the
subclass of medically vulnerable prisoners, and to "evaluate each
subclass member's eligibility for transfer within two weeks [by May 6],
prioritizing the most medically vulnerable inmates. It ordered the
Government to evaluate their eligibility for home confinement,
compassionate release, furloughs, or a transfer to a safer facility.
Where the Government determined that prisoners were, in fact, eligible
for relief, the court ordered them to provide it. This was no mass
release order; indeed, the District Court repeatedly stressed that
it was not ordering the release of anyone...

[...]

7.On Monday March 30th prisoners at FCI Elkton, a low security male
prison, began testing positive for COVID-19. As of April 12, 2020,
Elkton has 35 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 24 prisoner and
11 staff diagnoses. The FBOP released consecutive memos on 4/2/20,
4/3/20,7 and 4/4/20,8 announcing the deaths of Elkton prisoners
Woodrow Taylor (53 y/o), Margarito Garcia-Fragoso (65 y/o), and Frank
McCoy (76 y/o), respectively. The medically established progression of
COVID-19, combined with the pre-existing health conditions of all 3
men, makes it likely these individuals suffered tremendously leading
up to their deaths.

https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/opposition_brief.pdf

The BOP press-release announcing Frank McCoy's death reads as follows:

U.S. Department of Justice - Federal Bureau of Prisons
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Office of Public Affairs - 202-514-6551

April 4, 2020

Inmate Death at FCI Elkton

WASHINGTON, D.C.: On Thursday, March 26, 2020, inmate Frank McCoy
reported to the Health Services Department at the Federal Satellite
Low Institution (FSL) Elkton, in Lisbon, Ohio.

Mr. McCoy was evaluated by institutional medical staff and transported
to a local hospital for further treatment and evaluation due to the
inability to maintain oxygen saturation. While at the local hospital,
Mr. McCoy tested positive for COVID-19, his condition declined and he
was placed on a ventilator.

On Thursday, April 2, 2020, Mr. McCoy, who had long-term, pre-existing
medical conditions which the CDC lists as risk factors for developing
more severe COVID-19 disease, was pronounced dead by hospital staff.

Mr. McCoy was a 76 year-old male serving a 121 month sentence for
Possession of Child Pornography. He had been in custody at FSL Elkton
since September 6, 2017.

FCI Elkton is a low security facility that currently houses 2040 male
offenders, with an adjacent Federal Satellite Low which currently houses
417 low security male offenders.

The Bureau will continue to provide daily updates and information on
actions related to COVID-19 at www.bop.gov/coronavirus/index.jsp.

Additional information about the Federal Bureau of Prisons can be found
at www.bop.gov.

###

https://www.bop.gov/resources/news/pdfs/20200404_press_release_elk.pdf

Baal <Ba...@Usenet.org>
PGP Key: http://zimmermann.mayfirst.org/pks/lookup?search=0x40E4E9BBD08422D53DE966B808E3638C1E92C0E8&fingerprint=on&op=vindex

PGP Key Fingerprint: 40E4 E9BB D084 22D5 3DE9 66B8 08E3 638C 1E92 C0E8
- --

Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?" -- "Who will watch the Watchmen?"
-- Juvenal, Satires, VI, 347. circa 128 CE

If you accept that freedom of speech is important, then you are going to
have to defend the indefensible. -- Neil Gaiman

"We learned during the McCarthy era that when the State gets behind a moral
panic, no one is safe." -- Bob Chatelle

He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from
oppression.
-- Thomas Paine
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Aubergine

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May 31, 2020, 12:56:32 AM5/31/20

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Thank a lot for your great detective work.
It sure turned my stomach. This sounds disgusting and outright evil.

Baal

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Jun 3, 2020, 12:33:53 AM6/3/20

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On Sun, 31 May 2020 04:56:31 GMT Aubergine <Aube...@TheOven.com> said:

> Thank a lot for your great detective work.

The ACLU filing suit actually made the documents quite accessible. All the
credit really should go to them -- I just happened to stumble across it.

> It sure turned my stomach. This sounds disgusting and outright evil.

No argument with you there. I've been watching the Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
for some years now, and I never cease to be amazed at their arrogance!

The BOP conducts itself almost as if it were an independent nation-state,
and thereby accountable to NO ONE. The BOP ignores the courts, they ignore
the Attorney-General, they pretty-much do as they please.

Judges make orders/rulings, and the BOP ignores them, or slow-walks their
compliance. The only way that the BOP is ever going to listen, is for judges
to start jailing BOP officials for contempt of court. Unless and until this
is done, nothing will change.

Baal <Ba...@Usenet.org>
PGP Key: http://zimmermann.mayfirst.org/pks/lookup?op=vindex&search=0x1e92c0e8&fingerprint=on

PGP Key Fingerprint: 40E4 E9BB D084 22D5 3DE9 66B8 08E3 638C 1E92 C0E8
- --

Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?" -- "Who will watch the Watchmen?"
-- Juvenal, Satires, VI, 347. circa 128 CE

If you accept that freedom of speech is important, then you are going to
have to defend the indefensible. -- Neil Gaiman

"We learned during the McCarthy era that when the State gets behind a moral
panic, no one is safe." -- Bob Chatelle