What happens when someone in custody needs critical medical care, but cannot access it?

If cancer treatment is delayed or missed, the disease can progress and become fatal. If glaucoma is left untreated, it can cause permanent vision loss. If insulin is not provided on time, diabetes can quickly become life-threatening. These are not rare or theoretical situations—they are real risks in environments where access to care depends on movement, staffing, and transportation.

In correctional settings, routine medical care is not always routine. Lockdowns, staffing shortages, and logistical barriers can delay or prevent access to treatment. When this happens, the consequences are not minor inconveniences—they can be permanent, life-altering, or even deadly.

Despite the seriousness of these outcomes, there is no single, transparent system that fully tracks what happens.

Medical appointments may be delayed or missed. Medications may not be administered on time. Critical decisions may be made without a clear, unified record. Documentation often exists, but it is fragmented, inconsistent, and not easily verifiable across systems.

Just as healthcare had to move beyond paper records to ensure accuracy, coordination, and accountability, the criminal justice system should be held to the same standard. Individuals are frequently transferred between local, state, and federal custody, yet there is no unified system ensuring their information follows them accurately. This fragmentation leads to communication breakdowns, lost information, and preventable errors. In some cases, administrative issues and documentation gaps can even delay sentencing or impact case outcomes.

Police reports are often written after the fact and may reflect a single documented perspective. Without supporting, time-stamped documentation, important details can be difficult to verify. When a system relies heavily on after-the-fact reporting without a complete, traceable record, it becomes harder to establish a clear and accurate account of what occurred.

Technology already exists to do better.

Body cameras, dash cameras, and other audio and visual systems can upload data in real time or near real time to secure, centralized systems. Preserving evidence as it happens reduces the risk of missing or incomplete footage at critical moments and strengthens the integrity of the record.

In healthcare, electronic medical records ensure accountability. Every action is time-stamped. Every change is logged. Every interaction is recorded. There is a clear, traceable history.

The justice system should meet that same standard.

We are calling for the creation of an Electronic Justice Record (EJR)—a unified, time-stamped system that tracks medical care, documentation, evidence, and key decision points across the justice system. This includes medical requests, missed or delayed care, medications administered, body camera and audio footage, report creation and edits, and movement or transport decisions.

Every entry should be recorded.
Every change should be visible.
Every action should be accountable.

This is not about being soft or tough on crime. It is about accuracy, transparency, and trust. If a system has the power to take away someone’s freedom, it should also be required to maintain a complete and verifiable record of its actions.

No one’s sentence should include preventable harm.
And no system should have the ability to control the narrative without accountability.

If the truth matters, it should be documented.

Sign this petition if you believe the justice system should be transparent, accountable, and built on a complete and verifiable record.

If it’s not tracked, it becomes difficult to prove it happened.