[NYAPRS Enews] Atlantic: Profiles Suit vs Supermax Conditions for Prisoners w Psych Conditions

Tue Jun 19 09:03:54 EDT 2012

Supermax: The Faces of a Prison's Mentally Ill

The Atlantic  June 19, 2012

In a lawsuit filed yesterday, these inmates at America's most famous and
secure prison allege a cycle of abuse and madness, neglect, and
retribution. (The second in a three-part series.)

You don't get to be an inmate at ADX-Florence, America's most famous and
secure prison, without having first achieved a measure of infamy in the
nation's penal system. Name a convicted terrorist, foreign or domestic,
and there is a strong likelihood that he is serving a life sentence
without the possibility of parole at the maximum security federal
facility in southern Colorado. Terry Nichols. Ramzi Yousef. Ted
Kaczynski. Zacarious Moussaoui. Eric Robert Rudolph. Richard Reid. They
are all there -- all the eggs in one basket, you might say.

But there are hundreds of other prisoners at Supermax whom you likely
have never heard of and who have made it to the facility because they
have run into trouble at other federal prisons around the nation. The
Aryan Brotherhood is represented at the prison, for example, and so are
members of other notorious prison gangs. As a prisoner, you may be
assigned to Supermax if you attack another inmate, or if you injure a
guard, or if prison officials otherwise believe you present a particular
threat to prison staff or other inmates.

Each of five prisoners named as plaintiffs in a new civil rights case
filed Monday against Supermax fall into this category. So do the six
other inmates whose stories are chronicled in the long complaint, which
alleges that prison officials are failing or refusing to adequately
diagnose and treat mentally ill prisoners in their care. In some cases,
these men were mentally ill, or retarded, before they came to Supermax.
In other cases, the inhumane treatment of the men has made them mad, or
at least exacerbated their preexisting mental health problems.

The lawsuit, styled Bacote v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, seeks to force
the federal officials to provide better mental health care for these
inmates. But the litigation also raises fundamental questions about how
the Bureau of Prisons treats these men. They are felons, violent felons
in most cases, but even so they are entitled to be treated in a humane
way by government officials. The Eighth Amendment, with its prescription
against "cruel and unusual punishment," commands this. And so do
explicit federal laws and policies.

No evaluation of this new case, or of the fate of America's mentally ill
prisoners more generally, can be complete without a look into the
narratives of the lives of the men who are being punished in this
fashion. It is a haunting view. Their madness begets cruelty and
indifference from prison officials and doctors. And the cruelty and
indifference from the officials and doctors begets more madness. In the
meantime, the American taxpayer pays for all of it; The alleged abuse
and neglect, and even torture, is done in our name.

In our name -- but not necessarily done for our own good. "One common
misconception about ADX is that everybody there is never getting out of
prison. That's not true, and it's one of the main problems with failing
to treat the mentally ill while they are there," says Ed Aro, a partner
at Arnold & Porter <http://www.arnoldporter.com/> , the venerable law
firm that brought the lawsuit, along with the Washington Lawyers'
Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs <http://www.washlaw.org/> .
Aro adds:

We currently represent almost 50 inmates who are or recently have been
housed at ADX. One is already in the community and was released with no
transitional assistance whatsoever. 11 more will be released within 5
years, 18 within 10 years and 28 within 20 years. Without treatment,
these people will have a very difficult time reentering society safely
and successfully.

THE PLAINTIFFS

Part I of this series
<http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/06/an-american-gulag-d
escending-into-madness-at-supermax/258323/>  offered a close look at the
story of Jack Powers, a current Supermax inmate who alleges in vivid
detail how he went mad in custody because of the mistreatment he
received from prison officials. Here, below, is a brief summary of the
stories of each of the other 10 prisoners named in the complaint -- how
they came to Supermax and why they allege that they are owed more from
the law than their captors currently provide them. Judge for yourself
whether these men should be in this place at this time.

Michael Bacote: He is the first named plaintiff in the case. Age 37,
functionally illiterate, and deemed "mildly mentally retarded" a decade
ago by a prison psychologist, Bacote was sent to Supermax in 2005 after
pleading guilty to murder in a case involving the death of a fellow
inmate at the federal prison
<http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/bmp/index.jsp> in Texas.
(Evidently, he did not kill the victim but rather stood guard while
others did.) Bacote has been diagnosed as suffering from "major
depressive disorder with psychotic features" as well as from "paranoid
ideations," and he also may suffer the after-effects of severe
closed-head injury.

Bacote refuses to take medicine that has been ground up from pill form
by prison officials. And they, in turn, refuse to allow Bacote to take
his medicine in pill form. Bacote has repeatedly tried to transfer out
of Supermax. Over and over again, his requests have been denied. Despite
the prior diagnoses from prison doctors, for example, paragraph 138 of
the complaint alleges that Supermax officials in April 2009 told Bacote
that "a review of your file does not indicate you are mentally ill or
mentally retarded."

________________________________

Harold Cunningham: At age 41, Cunningham is serving a life sentence plus
380 years for a series of crimes, including murders and robberies. In
1996, representing himself in a state trial, he suddenly stabbed a
witness -- in open court, in front of judge and jury. Long before that
incident, Cunningham had been diagnosed with "conduct disorder,
under-socialized aggressive needs, and major depression." Following the
courtroom attack, Cunningham was diagnosed by a renown psychiatrist with
"paranoid schizophrenia," "antisocial personality disorder," and
"borderline intellectual function."

Cunningham arrived at Supermax in 2001, was taken off his existing
medication, and was promptly placed in the prison's ultra-secure Control
Unit, a place where prisoners are not permitted to take psychotropic
medication. Once, in 2004, he was given a "telepsychiatry" session
whereby he was able to speak via video conference with an off-site
psychiatrist. During the "session," Cunningham was allegedly handcuffed
from behind with shackles on on his legs and surrounded by corrections
officers. He has received no mental health treatment since 2001, the
Supermax complaint alleges.

________________________________

Ernest Norman Shaifer. Age 49, with a family history of mental illness
that is both tragic and shocking, Shaifer has been in and out of prison
for decades. Long ago diagnosed with bipolar disorder, in 2002 Shaifer
attacked a prison chaplain at a nearby federal prison next to Supermax.
For that he was prosecuted -- and also reevaluated by several mental
health experts, each of whom diagnosed him as mentally ill and
recommended medication as a treatment for his disorder.

But after Shaifer was sent back to Supermax, he was soon was sent to its
Control Unit and thus deprived of any psychotropic medication. As
paragraph 165 of the complaint alleges, a Supermax prison psychologist
who looked at the Shaifer family's history of major mental illness --
including suicide and murder -- decided that the inmate had used that
history to "fabricate" his own symptoms. Barring any new incidents,
Shaifer is expected to be released from prison in 2014 -- having been
untreated for over a decade.

________________________________

Jeremy Pinson. Age 26, with a history of epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and
schizophrenia, he is at Supermax for making threats against the
president of the United States and others. When he was first sentenced,
Pinson's trial judge recommended that he serve his sentence at a federal
prison <http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/buh/index.jsp>
designed for mentally ill prisoners. Instead, the Bureau of Prisons
assigned Pinson to another prison. Pinson then threatened another
official. Again, he was convicted. This time, a federal judge "strongly
recommended" that he be sent to a suitable facility. Again, the Bureau
of Prisons rejected the recommendation.

Here, from paragraph 182, is a list of the medications Pinson has been
given while in custody: "psychotropic medications, including Olanzapine,
Quietapine, Risperidone, Fluphenazine, Haldol and Perphenazine,
antidepressants Amitriptyline, Bupropion, Mirtazapine and Sertraline,
antimanic Depakote, and the anti-anxiety medication Buspirone." No
mentally ill prisoners are supposed to be housed at Supermax pursuant to
federal regulations. Yet prison officials there have repeatedly refused
to transfer Pinson, who has not received adequate treatment for his
illness.

________________________________

John W. Narducci Jr. Now 43, Narducci was home with his father at the
age of four when the latter was shot and killed. At 11, Narducci was
with his home alone with his mother when she had a heart attack and
died. Since then, Narducci has had a long history of mental illness as
well as a litany of violent episodes resulting in arrest, prosecution,
and conviction. He has been diagnosed with a "mood disorder" and a
"mixed personality disorder." In prison, he tries to dress like a woman.

As was the case with Pinson, the Bureau of Prisons ignored a judge's
recommendation, in 2000, that Narducci be sent to a federal facility
"which has programs sufficient to deal with his mental, emotional and
psychological problems." Instead, Narducci was sent to a successive
series of prisons where he lashed out at prisoners and guards. At
Supermax now since 2007, Narducci alleges that he has not been treated
for his mental illness. Untreated now for nearly five years, he is
scheduled to be released in 2015.

________________________________

THE FUTURE PLAINTIFFS

________________________________

Marcellus Washington. Age 39, functionally illiterate, mentally
retarded, and suffering from the "presence of a congenital brain
impairment," Washington was treated in prison for mental illness as
early as 1996. His condition did not improve, and by 2002 he sought
medical care for suicidal tendencies. Prison officials did not
immediately treat him and Washington shortly thereafter assaulted a
prison guard. He was subsequently diagnosed again with mental illness,
and he attempted suicide before he was transferred, in 2004, to
Supermax.

At Supermax, where he again tried to kill himself, Washington was
punished for cutting his wrists with razor blades -- but was not treated
for his obvious mental illness. Placed into the Control Unit, where no
psychotropic medicine is administered by prison staff, Washington has
sought repeatedly to obtain mental health treatment. Supermax officials
have consistently refused his requests. This is despite earlier prison
diagnoses (at other prisons) that he suffers from a "severe antisocial
personality disorder."

________________________________

William Concepcion Sablan. Age 47, severely mentally ill and suffering
from post-traumatic brain injury after he was struck in the head by a
machete, Sablan is a career criminal with a long history of arrests and
convictions. In 1997, delusional and paranoid, he was diagnosed with
"temporal lobe epilepsy" by a prison doctor. Despite this history, in
1999 when he arrived at the federal prison in Florence adjacent to
Supermax, Sablan was given only a cursory mental health evaluation and
his medication was not checked. A few days later, as the third man in a
two-man cell, he killed one of his cellmates.

Mental health evaluations following the murder convinced a federal trial
judge in 2004 to find Sablan incompetent to stand trial. But in 2005,
Sablan did stand trial, was convicted of murder, and was sentenced by
the same judge with a recommendation that he receive significant mental
health treatment, including medication. The Bureau of Prisons ignored
this recommendation, too, sending Sablan back to the U.S. Penitentiary
adjacent to ADX, and then to Supermax itself, where paragraph 261 of the
complaint alleges officials have continued to refuse to adequately treat
him.

________________________________

Jaison Leggett. Age 41, seriously mentally ill and with a long history
of suicidal ideation, Leggett has been at Supermax since 2002. In 2003,
suffering from osteomyelitis in his leg, Leggett refused amputation and
instead swallowed a razor blade after cutting into his leg. Later, he
was transferred to a federal mental health prison
<http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/spg/index.jsp>  in Missouri
where his leg was amputated and he was placed on suicide watch. The
prosthetic he received from prison doctors did not fit -- so he again
tried to cut his leg and then damaged (and swallowed part of) his
prosthetic.

Supermax officials have refused to replace his prosthetic. Paragraph 268
of the complaint alleges that prison officials force Leggett to hop
around from place to place or simply to crawl on the floor or up and
down stairs within the prison. All of this despite a finding, by a
prison doctor in 2003, that Leggett suffers from a mental disorder.
Prior to 2005, Leggett was routinely treated with psychotropic medicine.
Paragraph 275 of the complaint alleges that he has not received this
medication since 2005.

________________________________

David Shelby. At 47, and diagnosed by state prison officials as early as
1989 as suffering from acute psychotic episodes, Shelby has for decades
believed that he hears voices, including the voice of God. In 1997,
while in federal prison in Atlanta, he attempted to commit "suicide by
cop" by taking a prison staff member hostage with a knife. Following the
episode, he was repeatedly diagnosed as being mentally ill -- and his
sentencing judge recommended he be placed somewhere where he could
receive mental health treatment.

Once again, the Bureau of Prisons ignored the judge's recommendation and
Shelby was transferred to Supermax and placed within the prison's
general population. In 2009, he again tried to commit suicide and was
again diagnosed with mental illness. Later that year, paragraph 296 of
the complaint alleges, Shelby says he heard God's voice telling him to
eat a finger. So Shelby amputated his left pinkie, cut the finger into
small pieces, added it to a bowl of ramen soup and ate it.

________________________________

Herbert Isaac Perkins. Age 36, suffering from serious mental illness and
perhaps the effects of closed-head injuries, Perkins as a young teenager
was on the telephone with his father when his father shot himself in the
head and died. Before Perkins came to Supermax in 2008, he was
successfully treated at other prisons for with psychotropic medicine. At
Supermax, however, he was refused mental health treatment. Predictably,
his condition worsened.

In 2008, Perkins tried to commit suicide. After he returned from the
hospital, he was placed back in the same cell in which he had made an
attempt on his own life -- his own blood was still splattered on the
floor and the razor he had used to slash his throat was still resting on
the sink. Later in the day, Perkins again tried to commit suicide. He
was eventually given Zoloft, but then that medicine was revoked.
Paragraph 304 of the complaint alleges that until he became involved in
the new lawsuit, the Bureau did not provide him with mental health
treatment. Instead, he alleges, he has been harassed by prison officials
for his involvement in this lawsuit.

This is the second in a three-part series about a new class-action
lawsuit filed Monday against the Bureau of Prison and its officials who
run ADX-Florence, the "Supermax" facility in Colorado that houses some
of the nation's most dangerous criminals.The first part
<http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/06/an-american-gulag-d
escending-into-madness-at-supermax/258323/>  focused upon the complaint,
which alleges the torture, abuse, and neglect of the prison's mentally
ill prisoners. The third installment will focus on some of the legal
issues involved in the litigation.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/06/supermax-the-faces-o
f-a-prisons-mentally-ill/258429/

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