AL Political Reporter: “A coalition of Alabama pastors is calling on Gov. Kay Ivey to do something about the health of Kastellio Vaughan, whose condition while incarcerated within an Alabama prison went viral and sparked outrage last month.
Vaughan, 32, is currently serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in 2019 of breaking into multiple vehicles and a burglary. The viral photo shows Vaughan looking almost skeletal in a cell.
“Mr. Vaughan’s health situation is deplorable. He is in dire need of comprehensive health care that our state’s corrections system cannot provide,” said Daniel Schwartz, executive director of Faith in Action Alabama. “On top of that, our state’s corrections system is an abomination. Due to systemic failures, the lives of incarcerated individuals are put at great risk daily. Alabama’s corrections system is falling woefully short of helping prepare incarcerated individuals to flourish after completing their sentences. We are long overdue for an overhaul of Alabama’s corrections system. The God of Creation teaches us that we are all the Divine One’s children. Thus, there is not just a constitutional imperative, but also a faith imperative to fundamentally address the horrific conditions that plague our state’s correction system.”
The Alabama Department of Corrections said Vaughan opted twice to be discharged, against medical advice, following surgeries for complications from a gunshot wound.”