In 2003, 20-year-old Rodney Williams was doing time at Sing Sing for car theft. But just three weeks before getting out, he died after someone poisoned his coffee with Magic Shave hair powder. He had reportedly told guards that a fellow inmate put something in his drink, but Judge Terry Jane Ruderman said they were slow to get him help: "Had Williams received medical care in the morning hours of October 9, 2003, he would have had a significant chance of survival."
Williams's family was awarded $725,000 from the state. The hair powder contained barium, an ingredient used in rat poisons, but is used in prisons as an alternative to razors. We understand giving prisoners razors a bad idea, but maybe there should be an alternative to shaving besides poisonous powders. Hire a barber, perhaps? Williams's aunt said, "They must get so many people in there who are crying wolf, but when it comes to someone in real danger they need to be more careful. They're human beings, too."
