"Frivolous" Prisoner Lawsuits
by Ronald Del Raine
As of late, the media have bombarded the public about the pervasive evil
machi-nations of writ-writing convicts. These pampered, mollycoddled cons,
lolling in the lap of luxury in their country-club prisons have nothing
better to do than flood the courts with their frivolous legal petitions.
One Illinois inmate filed to be allowed to pray naked in the chapel. One
wanted creamy instead of chunky peanut butter (or vice versa). A Kansas
City inmate sued because he was served the artificial sweetener Sweet'n
Low. Unfortunately there are dingbats, imbeciles, and uneducated fools locked
up in the Gulag. But the media's vilification of these petitions as representative
of all convict writs is false. Consider the following:
Parrish v. Johnson, 800 F.2d 600, 602-3 (6th Cir. 1986) stated that both
Parish and Giles were paraplegics incarcerated at the State Prison for Southern
Michigan. As a result of their condition, both men exhibited a diminished
control over their bladder and bowel functions and, consequently, needed
assistance to change. Assistance, however, due to both staff shortages and
intentional neglect on the part of prison personnel, was often slow in arriving,
forcing Parrish, on a regular basis, to sit in his own feces for several
hours. Besides being extremely unpleasant, this situation was medically
dangerous because Parrish risked infecting his decubitis ulcers.
Turner, a prison guard, aggravated the unsanitary conditions of Parrish's
confinement by habitually refusing to relay or procrastinating in transmitting
Parrish's requests for aid to the nurses. Turner also committed several
assaults upon Parrish. On one occasion, Turner brandished a knife in order
to extort cigarettes from Parrish. Turner further enhanced Parrish's suffering
by placing Parrish's food tray in positions in which Parrish was unable
to retrieve it and by serving the food accompanied with taunts that he had
contaminated the food with venereal disease (a disease which Turner, in
fact, had). Finally, Turner interfered with Parrish's private phone conversations
and personal mail.
Although Giles could clean himself, mismanagement and neglect rendered his
ability nugatory: Giles was either not supplied with anything with which
to clean himself or was given one small rag which quickly became soiled
and unusable. Thus, like Parrish, Giles would routinely sit in his own waste
for significant periods of time. These deplorable hygienic conditions were
exacerbated by verbal degradations, sporadic assaults, and acts of malfeasance
and nonfeasance committed by Turner against Parish and Giles.
Turner was equally remiss in relaying Giles' requests for care and twice
accosted Giles with a knife. Quite frequently, Turner ridiculed and tormented
Giles by calling him, among other things, a "crippled bastard who should
be dead" and telling Giles that he had defiled his food with venereal
disease. Finally, Turner randomly opened and read Giles' personal mail.
Young v. City of Augusta, Ga. through Devaney, 59 F.3d 1160 1163-65 (11th
Cir. 1995) stated: In July 1989, Young who was eighteen years old at the
time and afflicted with a manic-depressive disorder, was arrested for stealing
a pack of cigarettes at a local grocery store. She was thereafter found
guilty of misdemeanor theft and was sentenced to pay a $500 fine or to serve
90 days in the City Jail. Unable to pay the fine, Young was faced with service
of the jail sentence. Prior to being transported to the jail, she was placed
in a holding cell adjacent to the courtroom, where she removed her underwear
and shoes and set them on fire. This led to another charge for destruction
of City property as a result of the damage to the cell. The next day, she
pleaded guilty to that offense and was again sentenced to a $500 fine or
90 days in jail.
Young had been treated for psychiatric and behavior problems during various
periods since she was fourteen years old. . . . On October 3, Young told
a guard she was hearing voices. In response to this information, she was
placed in an isolation cell, which she attempted to flood, thereby wetting
her clothes. She was then stripped naked and chained to the metal bed, which
contained no mattress. She was shackled in such a way that she could not
reach the toilet and was forced to eliminate her bodily wastes where she
was on the floor. When a meal was served, she threw it against the wall.
While in isolation, Young, in a delusional state, repeatedly banged on the
door, which resulted in her being sprayed with mace by both male and female
guards. She was confined in this manner, naked and chained to the bed amid
filth and excrement and subjected to macings, until October 6, when she
was provided with clothes, allowed to take a shower and her cell was finally
cleaned by another inmate. The next day she was taken to the Augusta Area
Mental Health Clinic and then to Georgia Regional, where she was treated
for her mental disorder with shots and medication. She was returned to the
jail on October 10, but continued to receive psychotropic medication. Nevertheless,
on November 3, she informed a guard that she again was hearing voices. As
before, she was placed in an isolation cell, which she proceeded to flood
and which resulted in her being handcuffed to the bed. A short time later
she engaged in verbal altercation with one of the guards, Bobbie Jean Gentle.
The confrontation escalated into a physical assault during which Gentle
struck Young in the eye with her fist. Gentle continued to beat Young, who
was still shackled to the bed, until another jailer intervened. Later that
day Young was again taken to the Augusta Area Mental Health Clinic and then
to Georgia Regional, where she was admitted for treatment until November
17, when she was released to her family.
Mandel v. Doe, 888 F.2d 783 (11th Cir. 1989). Mandel jumped off a work crew
truck in Florida injuring himself. Repeated requests for an x-ray were denied
and he was put in a small cell with no sink or toilet. When finally released,
he couldn't walk. An examination then revealed that the failure to administer
treatment necessitated a complete prosthetic hip joint replacement, including
both the ball and socket.
Hughes v. Joliet Correctional Center, 931 F.2d 425 (7th Cir. 1991). Hughes
entered Joliet on crutches with a bullet injury to his spine. When he couldn't
walk to the mess hall, the guard checked with the nurse who said there was
nothing wrong with him and he could get his own food: so he didn't eat.
When he fell down and couldn't get up, he was taken to the hospital and
x-rayed, revealing bullet fragments around the spine and vertebras torn
out. But the doctor told him that he wanted to see him walking soon and
he was full of bullshit. When Hughes said he couldn't feel his legs, he
was put in the psychiatric ward, where the same nurse took his leg brace
and crutches and had his bed moved away from the toilet so that he would
have to walk to use it. Sometime later he was examined by a neurologist
who told him he will never walk again.
Wood v. Sunn, 865 F.2d 982 (9th Cir. 1988). Wood, born with one kidney,
was in a Hawaii state prison with drainage of his scrotal area and a kidney
staphylococcal infection. He was taunted and accused of malingering. Now
he must be permanently catheterized.
United States v. McGill, 677 G. Supp. 403 (W.D.N.C. 1988). Lt. Gerry Dale,
of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, wrapped duct tape around the mouth of
a black con on a transfer bus, smothering him to death.
Arcata v. Prison Health Services, Inc., 769 F.2d 700 (11th Cir. 1985) Arcata
was suffering from leukemia in the Broward County Jail (featured on TV frequently).
After being treated with Ben Gay and Tylenol, he died.
Brock v. Warren County, Tenn., 713 F. Supp 238 (E.D. Tenn. 1989). In spite
of published warnings of excessive heat in the jail, nothing was done. Nineteen
days after admittance, Brock died from heat prostration.
Haynes v. Marshall, 887 F.2d 700 (6th Cir. 1989). After he wasn't given
his anti-psychotic medicine, 12 guards moved Haynes to the strip cell. The
district court found that "here is evidence, if believed, that while
Haynes was shackled and on the floor he was beaten with clubs about the
body, taken to the strip cell, fatally injured and left unattended to die
. . . . It was while in the strip cell that another officer allegedly placed
his foot upon Haynes' neck, applied his body weight, and inflicted the blow
that led to his death."
Bonitz v. Fair, 804 F.2d 164 (1st Cir. 1986). At 3:00 A.M . riot-clad cops
invaded the Massachusetts women's prison searching for drugs, prostitution,
gambling, staff corruption, and tax evasions. Using only one pair of gloves,
the female hacks administered dozens of body cavity searches while the male
cops ogled the procedures.
LeMaire v. Maass, 745 F. Supp. 623 (D. Oregon, 1990) stated, "there
was uncontroverted evidence that plaintiff has been held in his cell for
days at a time, in full mechanical restraints, without clothing, bedding
or personal property. . . . Some inmates are restrained in their cells so
they cannot remove surgical masks placed on them to prevent spitting. It
is understandable that in such a hostile, violent, and confrontational environment,
inmates who are locked down and isolated for almost 24 hours a day, sometimes
for years on end, in tiny, cramped, smelly cells, with absolutely nothing
to do, will strike out anyway they can." Injunction granted. (You liberal
bleeding hearts didn't prevail here. Our right-wing appeal court judges
overturned this decision.)
Then we have so-called rape cases.
Martin v. White, 742 F.2d 469 (8th Cir. 1984). In a Missouri state prison,
Martin was threatened with rape and narrowly escaped on three different
occasions, so he began carrying a knife: he was caught and given three more
years. Then four inmates with a knife and an iron bar attacked him and one
raped him. Upon appeal to the Supreme Court, Justice Blackmun wrote, "A
youthful inmate can expect to be subjected to homosexual gang rape his first
night in jail, or, it has been said, even in the van on the way to jail.
Weaker inmates become the property of stronger prisoners or gangs, who sell
the sexual services of the victims."
Redman v. County of San Diego, 896 F.2d 362 (9th Cir. 1990). An 18-year-old,
5'6", 130-lb inmate was taken from the "young and tender"
unit to the "mainline tank" module where he was put in a cell
with a known aggressive homosexual. He was then raped by his cellmate and
others.
Barfield v. Brierton, 883 F.2d 923 (11th Cir. 1989). A 20-year-old sentenced
to three years for bad checks was placed in Florida's Management Cellblock
of Death Row upon the FBI's assertion that he was a national security risk.
Guards told him that he would have his head shaved and eat his last meal.
They allowed an inmate to enter his cell and rape him several times.
Young v. Quinlan, 960 F.2d 351 (3rd Cir. 1992). Young who was white, young,
effeminate, and HIV positive was assured by the Lewisburg federal prison
Captain that he would be safe while awaiting transfer to a lower level prison.
Instead, he was raped, beaten by his cellmates in two different cells, had
his head dunked into the toilet, and threatened with death. Repeated requests
to all higher level officials were denied. When he flooded his cell, he
was put in a dry cell with no toilet, toilet paper, water, nor blanket.
Occasionally even a federal judge will partially agree with me that con
petitions are meritorious.
Morrison v. LeFevre, 592 F. Supp. 1052, 1056 (S.D. N.Y. 1984). Judge Sofer-later
a spokesman for the State Department who declared that the United States
has a legal right to kidnap anyone from a foreign country and that if someone
is hurt or killed in the operation, the U.S. is not to be held responsible-wrote,
"Prisoners often file civil rights suits making implausible accusations
that they were 'framed' by prison guards or officials. This is one of those
rare cases, however, in which a prisoner has succeeded in proving he was
subjected to just such a violation of his constitutional rights."
Morrison, a black jailhouse lawyer, was put in the hole and transferred
after guards "found"-inside a battery recharger his wife had left
for him-a bottle of fluorescent ink used to stamp the hands of visitors.
His wife was arrested for it also.
Sisneros v. Nix, 884 F. Supp. 1313, 1319 (S.D. Iowa 1995) stated, "Given
the crescendo of public uproar over frivolous prisoner litigation clogging
the federal courts, this case is an important reminder that however fortissimo
the public clamor, the court must always listen for a solo voice with a
legitimate complaint of a constitutional violation. This is such a case."
Sisneros was transferred out of state as retaliation for his litigation
and was forced to write home in English when his family didn't understand
English.
-Ronald Del Raine, 85462-132, Box 1000, Leavenworth, KS 66048-1000
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