Quote :

" COLUMBIA --Inmates in South Carolina could soon find a kidney is worth 180 days. S.C. lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow state prison inmates to donate organs or bone marrow in exchange for time off their sentences. A state Senate panel gave the nod to an inmate organ and tissue donation program Thursday. Debate was postponed on whether the incentive could be added because legislators worried it may not be allowed under federal law. "People are dying. I think it's imperative that we go all out and see what we can do," said the bills' chief sponsor, Sen. Ralph Anderson, D-Greenville. The measure approved by the Senate Corrections and Penology Subcommittee would set up a volunteer organ and tissue donor program in the state Corrections Department to teach inmates about the procedures and the need for donors. The incentive bill on which lawmakers want legal advice would trim up to 180 days off a prison sentence for a donation. Advocates for organ donations said the incentive policy would be the only one of its kind in the nation. Federal law makes it illegal to give organ donors "valuable consideration" -- a legal term for a promised benefit, such as money, work or assets. Lawmakers want to know whether that could apply to time off prison sentences. "We want to make this work; we really do," said Sen. John Hawkins, R-Spartanburg. "But I want to make sure no one goes to jail for good intentions." Mary Jo Cagle, the chief medical officer of Bon Secours St. Francis Health System in Greenville, urged senators to find an allowable incentive. She said the two-bill package offers "the opportunity for a unique kind of social justice." "We have a huge need for organs and bone marrow," Cagle said. But Melissa Blevins, executive director of Donate Life South Carolina, said any incentive would break the law and the principle behind donations. "It really muddies the water about motive. We want to keep it a clearly altruistic act," she said. Under the proposals, money for medical procedures and most prison guard overtime pay would be paid by the donor recipient and charitable groups. The state also would be able to decide which inmates are permitted to donate. Corrections Department Director Jon Ozmint said he thinks inmates would donate even without the incentive. "There are long-term inmates who would give if they knew a child was dying," he said. "They're lifers. They know they're going to die in prison." In South Carolina, 636 people are on a waiting list for organ donations. Last year, 291 people received organ transplants -- 90 percent of them from dead donors. About 50 people awaiting transplants die each year, Blevins said. "

http://charlotte.com/217/story/45049.html

Not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, it seems like a decent idea, but I just don't know about cutting time. Plus the legality of a program like this is still in question.

3/9/2007 11:09:07 AM

If I receive an inmate's liver, does that make me partially a criminal?

3/9/2007 11:10:29 AM

this is only slightly less unethical than the use of undocumented, unidentified, and unclaimed Chinese bodies (sometimes, executed prisoners!) in the travelling freakshow called the "Bodies Exhibition".

http://www.med.miami.edu/communications/som_news/index.asp?id=603
http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/

3/9/2007 11:22:23 AM

Why don't they try an organ donation program without the incentive first and see what happens?

That and the fact that 1 organ = 180 days is illegal.

3/9/2007 11:42:27 AM

^it talks about lifers still giving.

3/9/2007 11:44:56 AM

This is fucked up.

3/9/2007 11:52:14 AM

yeah, this is wrong

3/9/2007 11:53:27 AM

i went to prison and all i got was this stupid lost kidney

3/9/2007 12:04:44 PM

i think they should get more than 6 months for donation of an organ

3/9/2007 1:24:00 PM

what if your sentence was for 6 months?

3/9/2007 1:48:33 PM

I'm really torn about this. It seems to exploit people in a moment of weakness. At the same time, it gives a person who has taken a life the chance to save a life. In the right context that is a very noble thing to do.

I'd support it as long as there were some caveats. They could make the program available to everyone, but the time off would be reserved for those serving a mid-to-long term sentence. I just don't think people who got caught slinging crack should be encouraged to give up a kidney as a "get out of jail free" card.

3/9/2007 1:51:21 PM

This is ridiculously fucked up.

3/9/2007 1:53:23 PM

Fucked up. Not to mention that it's not a universally fair program. Not every criminal will be so healthy that they can donate a kidney. No way they could implement this.

3/9/2007 2:31:02 PM

donate? shit, we should just take them.

3/9/2007 2:47:08 PM

pffffft

I've been doing that on nationstates for months now.

3/9/2007 3:10:55 PM

this just means that those inmates who do get out earlier because they donated a kidney will end up in dialysis care for the rest of his/her life after they go on their drug splurge and wreck their other kidney....paid for by your tax money

3/9/2007 3:51:06 PM

"I have a few livers that I'm not using. You can have those."

3/9/2007 10:09:34 PM

Why don't they let them give an organ in exchange for some placement program or something maybe? Like, help them out with a place to live and something to get their life on track which wouldn't be breaking the law and could still be a decent incentive.

3/10/2007 5:47:51 PM