Jayci Yaeger died this morning of brain cancer. She was 10-years-old and had been diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 3. But cancer wasn’t the only battle this young girl had to fight. Thanks to the “justice” of our criminal justice system, Jayci and her family spent the last month of her life battling with a warden over Jayci’s right to spend the last dies of her 10-year-long life with her father. Jason Yaeger is serving the final year of a five-year sentence for a drug conviction in a minimum security prison camp in South Dakota, a 3½-hour drive from his daughter who was in a Lincoln, Nebraska. And Yaeger had the nerve to ask for a furlough or transfer to a halfway house so he could be closer to his terminally ill daughter. But luckily, the Warden, JD Whitehead, who sits on the board of the United Way, denied the request because he followed the law, which only allows transfers under “extraordinary” circumstances. And there is obviously no extraordinary circumstance in this story. Nothing to see here folks, just a girl dying of cancer who wants to see her dad. Just a guy who is getting out of jail in August, who wants to see his daughter before she dies. Keep it moving folks.

Seriously, who do these Yaegers think they are? And where do they think they live? In America? In a democracy? In the land of the free?

Mr. Warden Whitehead, I hope you’re reading this. I want to commend you for not caving into Jason Yaeger’s request for handouts. I toooootally respect your decision. Just for clarity, though, what is an “extraordinary” circumstance which would justify a transfer? Like does the way the child is dying have to be extraordinary? Is cancer just too ordinary a way for a girl to die? Like would the family have a better shot if the girl had suffered from the Ebola virus? Is 10 years old too ordinary an age to die of cancer? Is the family too ordinary? Like would it help if it was a rich and famous family? Was the crime the father committed too ordinary? Like he didn’t kill anyone, he wasn’t a risk to anyone. Like, does a serial killer make a better furlough candidate?

I wish I knew what it felt like to have your power and insight and understanding, your sense of justice and fairness. You must get the best sleep at night, knowing that you are upholding the law by preventing a dying girl from spending time with her father. Thank you for defending justice and family values.

Watch the video about Jayci Below. If you’re some crazy person who, like, has a heart, or something, and thinks prisoners should be reunited with their families, and not separated from them, and sign the ACLU’s petition for fair sentencing.

A 10-year-old girl died of brain cancer early this morning, shortly after receiving what her family said was her dying wish — a visit from her incarcerated father.

“She was holding on to see her father,” Ed Yaeger said of his niece Jayci Yaeger.

Jayci’s father, Jason Charles Yaeger, is serving the final year of a five-year sentence for a drug conviction in a minimum security prison camp in South Dakota, a 3½-hour drive from his daughter who was in a Lincoln, Neb., hospital.

Officials, however, had denied Jason Charles Yaeger’s repeated requests for a furlough so he could spend more time with his daughter, who suffered from terminal brain cancer.

Prison officials agreed to a one-time visit. Under the supervision of prison officials, Jason Charles Yaeger visited Jayci Wednesday in the hospital for about 20 minutes — just days before she died.

“It’s just unfortunate that the visit was cut so short,” Ed Yaeger told ABC News.

The Yaegers are upset with prison officials because Jason Charles Yaeger was not able to be with his daughter when she died.

“He was denied the proper good-bye,” Lori Yaeger, Jayci’s aunt, wrote in an e-mail Thursday.

Jason Charles Yaeger had pleaded repeatedly with prison officials to honor the bureau’s apparent policy of allowing furloughs and transfers under “extraordinary” circumstances, but was rebuffed time and again, he told ABC News in a telephone interview from prison last week.

In a letter to Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska — dated Feb. 20 and obtained by ABC News — a regional director from the Department of Justice wrote that “although Mr. Yaeger believes his daughter’s severe medical condition constitutes ‘extraordinary justification,’ a review of his case reveals this specific request was … reviewed … and denied … because his circumstances were not deemed to rise to the level of extraordinary.”

The congressman had requested information about the denials of the furlough or transfer.

Last week, after ABCNEWS.com published a story on Jayci, the Bureau of Prisons released a statement saying that officials there “have reviewed inmate Yaeger’s request for a compassionate release and have determined his situation does not meet the criteria.”

Jayci, named for her father’s initials, had been fighting for her life since she was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 3, seven years ago. But in the last six months, she had taken a severe turn downward.

Doctors declared her condition terminal in October. Last month, they found they couldn’t transfer her to a children’s hospital closer to her Lincoln, Neb., home because they said she wouldn’t survive the trip, Lori Yaeger said.

Jason Charles Yaeger had been allowed three brief supervised visits since the terminal diagnosis in the fall and the visits had prompted remarkable, if short-lived revivals in Jayci’s condition, she added.

The fourth visit was earlier this week.

“When he came home in February, Jayci was not expected to live through the night,” Lori Yaeger said. “She improved throughout that whole week. Jason was allowed to accompany her to get a [CT] scan. He was able to pick her up and put her on the [examining] table,” she said, growing emotional.

“And this little girl who could barely lift an arm wrapped her arms around him and held on.”

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Tags: , brain cancer, denied transfer, extraodinary circumstances, federal bureau of prisons, Girl Succumbs to Cancer After Visit From Inmate Dad, jason yaeger, Jayci Yaeger, jayci yeager, lincoln nebraska, south dakota, warden whitehead

This entry was posted on Friday, March 28th, 2008 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Heal, TV, Technology, Unite, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.