Exclusive: a Guardian investigation finds that inmates who died of preventable conditions were deemed malingerers and ‘time wasters’

Jennifer Jasper-Thompson was shocked when she received a call from the New Jersey department of corrections (DOC). Her nephew Damien Jasper, who had been incarcerated at Northern state prison in Newark, was dead at just 32.

His autopsy indicated that he had died from testicular cancer, considered one of the most treatable forms of cancer, even when caught in an advanced stage, with an overall five-year survival rate of 95%, according to the American Cancer Society.

Despite having a visible tumor and complaining for many months about severe pain, Jasper never received a cancer diagnosis or any treatment, according to records reviewed by the Guardian. Hence his family’s surprise, which soon turned not just to grief but outrage.

“The department of corrections killed my nephew,” Jasper-Thompson said.