James 'Bumpy' Bennett
James Bennett, a Black man in his seventies, died on May 17, 2020, at a state prison in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Records from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections list the manner of death as natural. A longtime friend who writes for The Appeal says James had survived cancer twice and had a hip replacement that his family and friends pushed the department to provide, and describes him as a steadying presence for younger men. The friend says James died of COVID-19 at State Correctional Institution, Huntingdon, and argues he should have been released earlier because of his age and health, under a state reprieve order that did not reach people like him. The friend also criticizes crowding at the prison and the lack of mass testing there.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency list his death as natural, and a longtime friend writing in The Appeal says he died of COVID-19 and argues he should have been released earlier.
Reported by: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency; a longtime friend writing for The Appeal (advocates).