Florida Parole Board Grants Medical Release to Betsie Gallardo

by Charles Davis · 2011-01-05 12:02:00 UTC
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Betsie Gallardo has gallbladder cancer and likely won't make it to see her 25th birthday. But proving that concerned citizens can in fact make a difference, she will now be allowed to spend her final days surrounded by loved ones, rather than dying alone in a Florida prison cell.

Betsie's case was brought to light by Bilerico Project founder and gay rights activist Bill Browning, who reported last month that the HIV-positive Haitian-American was wasting away behind bars, denied access to her family, after receiving a five year prison sentence in 2009 for spitting at a cop; the state of Florida considered her saliva to be a “deadly weapon." Soon after going to prison, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

“I asked for a Christmas miracle for Betsie -- that she be released to die in peace,” Browning writes in an update on the case. And while she wasn't set free prior to December 25, he notes she will be in time for Orthodox Christmas, January 7, after the Florida Parole Board this morning approved her release in a 2 to 1 vote during an emergency meeting on her case.

“Betsie is being released to a Miami hospice to live out her final weeks of life surrounded by her family,” Browning reports. “She is currently on house arrest and will only be allowed out of the facility for medical appointments and church services.”

The parole board's decision came after Betsie's case was picked up by blogs, major media outlets and a number of Florida lawmakers -- and after more than 600 Change.org members signed a petition calling for her release. It's that outpouring of support that Betsie's adoptive mother, Jessica Bussert, credits with winning her daughter's release.

But the fight's not yet over. As Jessica notes in a comment posted at the Bilerico Project, she's still pushing to get Betsie medical clemency, which would allow her to spend her final days at her parents' home in Indiana. And she's not alone in her lobbying campaign.

“Rep. Daphne Campbell, who has championed Betsie since she became aware of her situation, continues to work on her behalf,” Jessica writes. “As soon as the parole commission announced their decision, Rep. Campbell headed to the capitol to continue the conversation that we began with Governor [Rick] Scott last night at the inaugural ball. Her goal is nothing less than to have the governor grant Betsie unconditional release so that she can travel home immediately.”

And you can help. Urge Gov. Scott and other members of the Executive Clemency Commission to have mercy for a dying young woman.

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Charles Davis has covered Congress and criminal justice issues for public radio and Inter Press Service.

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