Julie Chrisley has become sick in prison.
In June, an appeals court overturned Julie Chrisley’s sentence. But she’s not out of the woods — or prison — yet.
Even though Chrisley Knows Best did not endear Todd and Julie to fans, many have grown queasy at their lengthy sentences over non-violent offenses.
Julie has grown more than queasy. The horrific conditions of even a “nice” federal prison have caused her to grow ill — and she’s far from alone.
Julie Chrisley has become sick in prison
Ever since Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley reported to their respective prisons to serve out their respective sentences in early 2023, adult daughter Savannah Chrisley has acted as their advocate on the outside.
Obviously, they have a legal team to handle their appeals. And they’ve made progress on that front — progress that the family once feared might prove impossible.
But, primarily through Savannah, the fallen Chrisley Knows Best stars have also shed light on injustices that plague our broken carceral system. Much of the focus has been upon vile, inexcusable, and entirely preventable conditions within the prisons themselves.
Late this spring, the appeals court overturned Julie’s sentence — but not her conviction. The judge ordered that she undergo resentencing, which means that (unless she receives a sentence of only a year and a half) she’s not getting out of prison yet.
Meanwhile, Todd is still serving his 10-year sentence.
But on the latest episode of Savannah Chrisley’s Unlocked podcast, she is opening up about how unbearable Julie Chrisley’s conditions at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Kentucky have become for her mother.
Savannah Chrisley warns of the prison conditions that her mom is facing
“ … In the visitation room, thank goodness there’s air conditioning, but outside the visitation room, there is zero air conditioning,” Savannah described. “And the heat index was [between] 105 and 110 [degrees].”
She explained: “And that’s what mom’s living in, in conditions like that with absolutely no air and it can be 100 degrees inside the building.”
Savannah then reported on what her mother had told her. “She literally said that she got physically sick because she got so hot,” she conveyed.
It’s not just Julie Chrisley who’s suffering. Savannah explained that this, like other systemic issues, impacts countless people.
“So you have these women who are suffering from heat exhaustion and they’re passing out,” she detailed.
“But yet, you know, there are service dogs [at the same facility] that have air conditioning … none of it makes sense to me,” Julie lamented. “It is so beyond inhumane. …”
Everyone has a right to livable conditions
As countless human rights and prison reform experts have pointed out, cooking prisoners alive — whether they’re guilty or innocent, whether they’re convicted of fraud or murder — is not the behavior of a just society.
Savannah remarked upon how her mother’s relief and excitement over being in air conditioning for their visit caused it to hit home. Something that she and almost everyone else in the US takes for grated was, for her mother, a rare treat.
“Unfortunately for these men and women it’s just not [normal] and that’s really tough to hear those struggles,” Savannah expressed. “The whole prison system as a whole is so broken, not only at dad’s place, but at mom’s as well.”
As always, Todd and Julie are not sympathetic victims. Based upon their behavior on Chrisley Knows Best and plenty of their actions off camera, they do not seem to be good people.
But even a terrible person can receive an excessive sentence. And even the lowest scum on the planet deserves livable conditions if they should end up behind bars.
Incarceration is a punishment. It should not amount to torture. The conditions that Savannah describes are clear violations of the human rights of prisoners — including, inevitably, people who committed no crime at all and do not belong in prison.