Giving Compass' Take:

· Having a loved one die is hard enough, but when that loved one is in prison, family members often hear the news by voicemail left from the institution. Here, The Marshall Project discusses the prisoner death notification system through an interview with Linda Reza who describes the process as inhumane. 

· How can prisons better handle these types of situations? How can this be addressed in a more sensitive way?

· Here are some recommendations for prison reform.

Early one morning in April 2016, Linda Reza was at work at a fabric sample factory in Ontario, California, when she got a call from an unknown number. She wasn’t supposed to use her phone at work, so she slipped out to the bathroom to check her voicemail.

“Yes, hello, this message is for Linda Reza, stepmother of inmate Rocha, Erika, here at California Institution for Women,” said the caller, who identified himself as a lieutenant at the Chino, California, prison. “It is imperative that you contact the facility as soon as possible. We have some information relative to your stepdaughter’s demise.” Before hanging up, the man added, “We’re deeply sorry ma’am ... you have our extended sympathy for your loss.”

Reza was floored; this was the first she had heard about her stepdaughter’s death. Crying and in shock, she dialed the number back. The lieutenant answered, and told her that guards had found Rocha the night before, hanging in her cell.

“That voicemail is traumatizing,” Reza said in a recent interview, though she can’t bring herself to delete the message. “I still find myself driving home from work at times crying, pissed off, and I think, through a voicemail? Really, through a voicemail?”

Read the full article about prison policies by Christie Thompson at The Marshall Project.