Republished with edits: 7/20/2026
Since February 14, 2025—the day she was transferred to FCI ((Federal Correctional Institution) Tallahassee from Muscatine County Jail—Tallie Dillard has been denied life-saving medical care. Each day for Tallie is painful, and she doesn’t know which one might be her last.
Before her transfer to FCI Tallahassee, Tallie was diagnosed with diabetes, which caused and continues to cause severe swelling and pain in her legs and feet. In 2023, she was hospitalized twice for kidney failure. At Muscatine County Jail, where she was previously held, doctors were monitoring a cyst on her abdomen for potential cancer development and a concerning heart murmur. She was also suffering from a hernia at her navel and a lesion on her liver.
At FCI Tallahassee, Tallie reports that staff painted over mold in the bathrooms multiple times. A woman working in the prison’s kitchen told Tallie that she had been instructed to serve Bran Flakes cereal boxes that had been chewed through by rats. In the dining area, Tallie observed “black hard bugs” on the tables, a silverfish in someone’s bread, and another insect in someone’s apple. She saw another incarcerated woman begin to bleed from her mouth after biting into a piece of meat with some kind of metal inside it; Tallie does not believe that woman received any medical treatment for her cut.
Since leaving Muscatine County Jail, Tallie has not seen any specialist for her heart, her kidney, her liver, or her diabetes. Not long after her transfer to FCI Tallahassee, Tallie requested that her medical records from Muscatine County Jail be sent to her. She never received those records at FCI Tallahassee, and has not been able to access them at FCI Greenville. After she was transferred to FCI Greenville in October 2025, she began filing official grievance reports (known as “Administrative Remedies”) to attempt to address the medical neglect she has been experiencing. Those filings have all been either dismissed on technicalities—like addressing more than one issue in a single filing—or outright ignored.
In the past year, Tallie has reported having significant difficulty breathing and abdominal pain so intense that it keeps her awake at night. Tallie has also, on multiple occasions, experienced back pain so severe that she is unable to walk. Prison staff observed this and yet made no attempts to help Tallie. Tallie asked for a walker with a seat to allow her to move comfortably, but staff refused to provide one, instead giving her a cane.
Tallie is a 53-year-old Black woman. She has observed incarcerated individuals of other races receiving care promptly after requesting it, and believes that her medical needs are being invalidated partly because of her skin color.
Tallie does not want to die. But, because she has no access to medical care or her medical records, she constantly fears that her declining health will reach a breaking point, and that she will die in prison. Tallie frequently visits health services for “sick call,” paying $2 a visit (a large sum when you consider the average wage for incarcerated workers in Illinois—12-40 cents an hour) and receiving nothing but pain medication. “All they do is put you on pills,” Tallie wrote to student advocates. But pain pills won’t fix or even mitigate any of her underlying conditions. “I don't want to be addicted to pain meds when there are other solutions," she said.
As of today, Tallie does have a surgery date for a hernia, but still has not seen a specialist to address her heart murmur or her kidney failure or the cyst on her abdomen or the lesion on her liver. Staff responded to a recent filing by listing the dates on which Ms. Dillard has received treatment for other, less urgent issues; the interventions they reference include an onsite optometry evaluation, treatment for UTI symptoms, and a colonoscopy. “They are saying my records are showing that I am treated appropriately,” Tallie wrote. During a recent phone-banking event, advocates spoke on the phone with a Health Services Administrator at FCI Greenville, who also listed appointment dates instead of responding to our concerns about Tallie’s life-threatening medical conditions.
According to the 1976 Supreme Court decision Estelle v. Gamble, the failure of prison officials to provide adequate medical care to incarcerated individuals is a breach of duty and constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The behavior of prison staff towards Tallie violates not only the code of conduct for prison officials, but also federal law. Tallie deserves justice, and so far, justice has not been served. The Remedy Project has filed multiple Administrative Remedies on behalf of Tallie—the only legal recourse she has for seeking relief while incarcerated. All of our remedies have been rejected or ignored. Tallie continues to suffer.
No one should have to wonder if they are going to survive or struggle through daily activities because their pleas for help are disregarded. Unfortunately, Tallie’s story is far from unique. Incarcerated people across the country are victims of medical injustice. In fact, studies have shown that each year spent in the U.S. prison system corresponds with a 2-year reduction in life expectancy. It’s time to do better. Please support our efforts to bring justice to Tallie and the other thousands of victims of human rights violations in prisons.
Republished with edits: 7/20/2026
Since February 14, 2025—the day she was transferred to FCI ((Federal Correctional Institution) Tallahassee from Muscatine County Jail—Tallie Dillard has been denied life-saving medical care. Each day for Tallie is painful, and she doesn’t know which one might be her last.
Before her transfer to FCI Tallahassee, Tallie was diagnosed with diabetes, which caused and continues to cause severe swelling and pain in her legs and feet. In 2023, she was hospitalized twice for kidney failure. At Muscatine County Jail, where she was previously held, doctors were monitoring a cyst on her abdomen for potential cancer development and a concerning heart murmur. She was also suffering from a hernia at her navel and a lesion on her liver.
At FCI Tallahassee, Tallie reports that staff painted over mold in the bathrooms multiple times. A woman working in the prison’s kitchen told Tallie that she had been instructed to serve Bran Flakes cereal boxes that had been chewed through by rats. In the dining area, Tallie observed “black hard bugs” on the tables, a silverfish in someone’s bread, and another insect in someone’s apple. She saw another incarcerated woman begin to bleed from her mouth after biting into a piece of meat with some kind of metal inside it; Tallie does not believe that woman received any medical treatment for her cut.
Since leaving Muscatine County Jail, Tallie has not seen any specialist for her heart, her kidney, her liver, or her diabetes. Not long after her transfer to FCI Tallahassee, Tallie requested that her medical records from Muscatine County Jail be sent to her. She never received those records at FCI Tallahassee, and has not been able to access them at FCI Greenville. After she was transferred to FCI Greenville in October 2025, she began filing official grievance reports (known as “Administrative Remedies”) to attempt to address the medical neglect she has been experiencing. Those filings have all been either dismissed on technicalities—like addressing more than one issue in a single filing—or outright ignored.
In the past year, Tallie has reported having significant difficulty breathing and abdominal pain so intense that it keeps her awake at night. Tallie has also, on multiple occasions, experienced back pain so severe that she is unable to walk. Prison staff observed this and yet made no attempts to help Tallie. Tallie asked for a walker with a seat to allow her to move comfortably, but staff refused to provide one, instead giving her a cane.
Tallie is a 53-year-old Black woman. She has observed incarcerated individuals of other races receiving care promptly after requesting it, and believes that her medical needs are being invalidated partly because of her skin color.
Tallie does not want to die. But, because she has no access to medical care or her medical records, she constantly fears that her declining health will reach a breaking point, and that she will die in prison. Tallie frequently visits health services for “sick call,” paying $2 a visit (a large sum when you consider the average wage for incarcerated workers in Illinois—12-40 cents an hour) and receiving nothing but pain medication. “All they do is put you on pills,” Tallie wrote to student advocates. But pain pills won’t fix or even mitigate any of her underlying conditions. “I don't want to be addicted to pain meds when there are other solutions," she said.
As of today, Tallie does have a surgery date for a hernia, but still has not seen a specialist to address her heart murmur or her kidney failure or the cyst on her abdomen or the lesion on her liver. Staff responded to a recent filing by listing the dates on which Ms. Dillard has received treatment for other, less urgent issues; the interventions they reference include an onsite optometry evaluation, treatment for UTI symptoms, and a colonoscopy. “They are saying my records are showing that I am treated appropriately,” Tallie wrote. During a recent phone-banking event, advocates spoke on the phone with a Health Services Administrator at FCI Greenville, who also listed appointment dates instead of responding to our concerns about Tallie’s life-threatening medical conditions.
According to the 1976 Supreme Court decision Estelle v. Gamble, the failure of prison officials to provide adequate medical care to incarcerated individuals is a breach of duty and constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The behavior of prison staff towards Tallie violates not only the code of conduct for prison officials, but also federal law. Tallie deserves justice, and so far, justice has not been served. The Remedy Project has filed multiple Administrative Remedies on behalf of Tallie—the only legal recourse she has for seeking relief while incarcerated. All of our remedies have been rejected or ignored. Tallie continues to suffer.
No one should have to wonder if they are going to survive or struggle through daily activities because their pleas for help are disregarded. Unfortunately, Tallie’s story is far from unique. Incarcerated people across the country are victims of medical injustice. In fact, studies have shown that each year spent in the U.S. prison system corresponds with a 2-year reduction in life expectancy. It’s time to do better. Please support our efforts to bring justice to Tallie and the other thousands of victims of human rights violations in prisons.
