Inmates file suit against DOC, Wade Correctional Center

A federal class action lawsuit has been filed against the Louisiana Department of Corrections and David Wade Correctional Center (DWCC) for subjecting prisoners to cruel, debilitating conditions, including severe punishment for mentally ill and suicidal prisoners.

DWCC, in Claiborne Parish, houses hundreds of prisoners in “extended lockdown” cells for months on end. This confines an individual in a cell for 23-24 hours per day with little to no human contact.

DWCC policy forbids any interaction between prisoners and, due to the layout of the facility, prisoners cannot even see into the other cells. The prolonged confinement and sensory deprivation causes and exacerbates serious mental illness, the suit alleges.

“Extended lockdown is a cruel, inhumane punishment in which men are deprived of human contact, the outdoors, speaking with their families or even a regular shower,” attorney Katie Schwartzmann said. “The Department of Corrections sends men to these horrible conditions without any consideration for their mental or physical health.

“Prisoners known to have serious mental illness, including history of self-harm or suicidal tendencies, are routinely placed on extended lockdown,” she added.

Schwartzmann is an attorney with the MacArthur Justice Center in New Orleans.

The lawsuit is brought on behalf of Anthony Tellis and Bruce Charles, both of whom are currently in custody of the David Wade Correctional Center.

Tellis had no history of mental illness prior to incarceration, but now complains of auditory and visual hallucinations as a result of his stay in extended lockdown and lack of mental health resources, the suit alleges.
Charles had been previously diagnosed as bipolar and was on suicide watch at the time of his evaluation, but was deemed as having no mental health issues by the prison.

The suit contends Charles’ diagnosis, medications and medical records have been in constant and contradictory fluctuation. He has attempted suicide twice and been on suicide watch five times.

TORTURE BY FREEZING

The lawsuit details the prison’s use of freezing temperatures to torture prisoners.

During the cold snap in early January, temperatures in the area dropped below freezing. The prison opened the windows and left prisoners housed in minimal clothing in sub-freezing temperatures.

The suit also provides detailed accounts of the trauma experienced by other individuals not named in the suit.

One prisoner with a history of serious mental illness was held on lockdown and his requests for help ignored. He committed suicide by hanging.

Another individual, whose bipolar diagnosis was ignored, cycled through suicide watch due to multiple attempts of self-harm and suicide until he jumped from a 12-foot wall. He remains at risk of leg amputation.

The suit details DWCC’s continued attempts at obstruction and retaliation, including denying delivery of mail to and from counsel, seizing documents and threatening or transferring prisoners for speaking with counsel.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, naming DOC Secretary James M. Le Blanc, DWCC Warden Jerry Goodwin and several other prison officials as defendants.

The suit alleges violations of the First and Eighth Amendments, the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

{Editor’s Note: This article reports on the filing of a lawsuit. A lawsuit includes only the allegations of one party against another. It does not give both sides of a case and is not proof that the allegations made are correct and true. The truth of the allegations will be determined by a judge and/or jury.}