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An invisible woman will be laid to rest

For most of her adult life, 48-year-old Marcia Powell was invisible. Then she died, and slowly came into view.

Powell had been in and out of jail for decades, unable to overcome mental illness. She roamed the streets and had been in and out of jail for decades.

After offering oral sex to an undercover police officer in exchange for a few dollars, Powell found herself in what has become one of Arizona's largest de facto mental-health facilities -- state prison. Then she was placed in a cage-like outdoor enclosure at the prison and left to cook for four hours.

There she fell into a coma and died.

The only family members that could be found were even less interested in her after death than they had been while she was alive.

Read E.J. Montini's eloquent column in the Arizona Republic here.

Thanks to @HomelessRights for the link.

Full post as published by the 13th juror on June 28, 2009 (boomark / email).