By C1 Staff
DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa DOC is coming under fire for a policy that bans any inmate serving a life sentence from leaving prison for deathbed visits or funerals without permission from the department’s director.
According to USA Today, the defense attorney for Vernon Huser, serving a life sentence at the Anamosa State Penitentiary for the shooting death of Lance Morningstar in 2004, called the policy ‘draconian.’
Huser was denied the right to visit his mother on her deathbed; she passed on Sunday.
Anamosa State Penitentiary Warden John Fayram denied the request over concerns with the relatively short period of time that Huser had been incarcerated.
Huser was first convicted of first-degree murder in 2010 and was out on bond after the Iowa Court of Appeals granted him a new trial.
The attorney stated that Huser’s family would have paid for any expenses related to the visit and arranged for two off-duty Polk County sheriff’s deputies to transport Huser from the prison to the Ames hospice where his mother was being cared for.
He also said that Huser always complied with the rules surrounding his release.
A spokesperson for the DOC said that Huser had not been incarcerated long enough for officials to determine whether or not allowing him to make the trip would pose a security threat.