Jonathan Magbie (1977 – September 24, 2004) was a

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or t ...

who died in jail while serving a ten-day sentence for

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

possession.

Background

Magbie was paralyzed from the neck down after being struck by a drunk driver at the age of four. In 2004, he was charged with marijuana possession after police found a marijuana cigarette, four grams of cocaine, and a loaded gun in the vehicle in which he was stopped.Henri E. Cauvin
"D.C. Jail Stay Ends in Death For Quadriplegic Md. Man"
''Washington Post'', October 1, 2004. Retrieved January 2, 2009. The driver of the car, Bernard Beckett, pleaded guilty to the gun charges. Magbie pleaded guilty to the marijuana. Although Magbie had never previously been convicted of a criminal offense and although he required private nursing care for as much as 20 hours a day, Magbie was given a ten-day sentence in the

D.C. Jail The District of Columbia Jail or the D.C. Central Detention Facility (commonly referred to as the D.C. Jail) is a jail run by the District of Columbia Department of Corrections in Washington, D.C., United States. The Stadium–Armory station s ...

in September 2004 by D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith E. Retchin, who cited the gun or the cocaine as factors in the jail sentence. Lacking a ventilator, he died in city custody four days later. This provoked a series of op–ed pieces in the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' by columnist

Colbert I. King Colbert Isaiah King (born September 20, 1939) is an American columnist for ''The Washington Post'' and the deputy editor of the ''Posts editorial page. In 2003, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Early life King was born to Amelia ...

. Magbie's mother, with the help of the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

, filed a lawsuit accusing the District government and

Greater Southeast Community Hospital United Medical Center, formerly Greater Southeast Community Hospital, is the only public hospital in Washington D.C. The 330-bed facility is located in Southeast Washington, D.C. In 2016, the government of the District of Columbia awarded a no-bi ...

of failing to give him proper care. That lawsuit, and additional cases against Center for Correctional Health and Policy Studies, Inc. (which provided the medical care at the D.C. jail) and Corrections Corp. of America, were settled out of court for a total of $4.6 million.David M. Reutter
"$4.6 Million Settlements in Death of Quadriplegic D.C. Prisoner"
''Prison Legal News'', July 15, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2021.

References

1977 births 2004 deaths American people who died in prison custody People with tetraplegia Prisoners who died in Washington, D.C., detention {{US-crime-bio-stub