Suit: Jail was Inhumane to Inmate

NAMI SCC Website

This list has had numerous postings exemplifying the national tragedy of growing numbers of Americans with psychiatric disabilities who wind in jails and prisons and far too often receive inhumane and humiliating treatment when correctional systems do not identify and address their special needs. This piece suggests yet another remedy: legal action by aggrieved inmates.

Suit: York jail was 'inhumane' to inmate

By GISELLE GOODMAN, Portland Press Herald Writer

April 17, 2002 ALFRED ? A former inmate at the York County Jail sued jail administrators and corrections officers on Tuesday in U.S. District Court, claiming they had violated his civil rights. Attorney Michael Waxman of Portland sued on behalf of Michael Cole of Sanford. Cole, described by Waxman as "severely mentally ill," is seeking compensation for injuries he sustained at the jail and unspecified punitive damages.

In the complaint, Waxman says that while Cole was in the jail in November 2001, he was subjected to "inhumane and humiliating treatment" when corrections officers isolated him for five days in a room without a toilet, where he was handcuffed and his feet were shackled.

"Michael was not given any reasonable medical evaluation or treatment," the lawsuit says. "Michael was never treated as an inmate with serious mental illness who needed assistance."

Cole's lawsuit claims that he was given inappropriate care for his illness, was not provided a reasonably safe living condition, and was not protected from unreasonable bodily restraints or excessive force, so his basic liberties were violated. The incident, says the lawsuit, occurred around Nov. 17, when Cole was 23.

Cole had been in and out of the York County Jail before, and had displayed behavior that signified serious mental illness, including a suicide attempt. Before his incarceration in November, according to the complaint, he had been diagnosed as suffering from schizo-affective disorder and manic depression.

According to the complaint, jail administrators and corrections officers knew of Cole's illness yet punished him for acting out. He was not treated for mental illness, says the lawsuit, until after the five days in the holding cell.

Source: http://www.portland.com/news/york/020417inmate.shtml

This "Mental Health E-News" posting is a service of the New York Ass'n of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, a statewide coalition of people who use and/or provide community mental health services dedicated to improving services and social conditions for people with psychiatric disabilities by promoting their recovery, rehabilitation and rights.

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