Ten inmates at the Augusta State Medical Prison are suing the warden and other prison officials for $1 million each for failing to protect them from dangerous living and working conditions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Georgia Department of Corrections has not yet received the lawsuit, said spokesperson Lori Belnoit.
Named defendants include Warden Edward Philbin, Deputy Warden of Security Tamika Harvey, Health Service Administrator Connie Melchert, Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment Ruth Shelton, and Food Director Jaqulyn Champion. Each is being sued in his or her individual and official capacities, according to legal papers filed Jan. 11 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
Warden Philbin is also accused in the complaint of making fraudulent statements to the effect that “all offenders are placed in isolation, quarantine or step-down area . . . to prioritize the safety of all offenders and staff to minimize the spread of Covid-10.”
The defendants are “displaying deliberate indifference and reckless disregard for the safety” of the inmates who are suing “failing to act reasonably in response to the wide spread dangers of the COVID-19 virus that plague the entire prison system, jails and society,” the inmates allege in their lawsuit. Prison officials are accused of supplying inadequate, watered-down cleaning materials for dorms and cells, according to the complaint, which alleges that the medical prison has had more cases of COVID-19 than any other prison in Georgia.
[adrotate banner=”23″]
At present, the Georgia State Medical Prison has 119 staff members who have tested positive for the coronavirus and 264 prisoners, according to the corrections COVID-19 website. Of those, 116 staff and 239 offenders have recovered. The prison has reported one staff death and six deaths of inmates, according to the website.
The suit asks prison officials to find “safe and effective means to protect plaintiffs from contracting the virus” by devising a safe means of quarantining inmates who are infected by the coronavirus so that the virus does not spread within the prison population or staff. Measures prison officials have employed thus far have been ineffective to stop long-term suffering and perhaps even death, the inmates say in their lawsuit. Lack of adequate social distancing is a specific failing of the prison listed.
Measures such as taking temperatures have proven ineffective because many who have been infected at the prison have not run fevers, according to the complaint. Quarantine housing for prisoners is alleged to be unsafe because newly infected prisoners are housed with those who are recovering from the disease, thus raising the possibility of a second infection for some.
Further, some staff members wear only thin masks when they are in the quarantine area, which increases the likelihood that they will contract the disease and carry it out into the community, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs also claim that, “Augusta State Medical Prison’s Food Director, Ms. Jaquline Champion, in cahoots with the ineffective covid-19 procedures employed by the Augusta State Medical Prison Health Administrator, Ms. Melchert” and other prison officials “strongly contribute to the plaintiff contracting the virus, and possibly dying from it, by failing to serve the Plaintiff and other offenders at the Augusta State Medical Prison, a nutritional diet.”
[adrotate banner=”19″]
The lack of a nutritional diet makes prisoners more susceptible to the coronavirus by weakening their immune systems. Lack of nutritional food places all prisoner lives in danger, the plaintiffs argue.
Inmates have asked for an immediate hearing to alleviate what they consider to be an emergency situation within the prison.
Plaintiffs have asked for court appointed attorneys to represent them in this case and for a temporary or permanent injunction that would require prison officials to take steps to remedy the unsafe prison conditions.
Named plaintiffs include Joseph Tiger-D Prince, the author of the complaint, Rico Parker, Anthony Cunningham, William E. West IV, Isaiah Walker, Henry Jones, David Nations, Kawaski Bush, Freddie Hilton and Wesley Gillespie, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections inmate database.
Prince, Parker, Jones, Nations, and Hilton are in prison for murder. West is serving time for fraudulent credit card, Bush for armed robbery and Gillespie for burglary.
Cunningham, in prison for kidnapping, and Walker, in prison for possession of a firearm during a crime, joined the lawsuit from Coastal State Prison, where they are presently incarcerated.
Note: Language usage in this story is as it appears in the prisoner complaint unless. Names as spelled as they appear in the complaint unless correct spellings were available from other sources.
Debbie Reddin van Tuyll is Editor-in-chief of The Augusta Press. Reach her at debbie@theaugustapress.com
[adrotate banner=”45″]
