Force-feeding of prisoners--a shameful practice.

摘要

A judge in Connecticut, USA, is considering whether to continue to allow a prisoner on hunger strike to be force-fed. Superior Court Judge James Graham is expected to rule on the case of William Coleman, who is in the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center, in the coming weeks. Coleman and his lawyers argue that he has a constitutional right to determine what happens to his body, and the right to refuse medical treatment including resuscitation or assisted feeding. He has been force-fed via a nasogastric tube inserted by a physician on occasions since January, 2008, when Judge Graham issued a temporary injunction that allowed the state to feed Coleman by force. This case is one of several in which prisoners in US states are challenging force-feeding as unconstitutional on varying grounds.