[Ppnews] Federal Government Seeks Dismissal of Supermax Suicide Lawsuit

[Political Prisoner News]

  Federal Government Seeks Dismissal of Supermax Suicide Lawsuit

September 25, 2012 By Jean Casella and James Ridgeway 
<http://solitarywatch.com/author/jeancasellaandjamesridgeway/> 1 Comment 
<http://solitarywatch.com/2012/09/25/federal-government-seeks-dismissal-of-supermax-suicide-lawsuit/#comments>

http://solitarywatch.com/2012/09/25/federal-government-seeks-dismissal-of-supermax-suicide-lawsuit/#more-6940

The U.S. government is currently contending with two federal lawsuits 
that challenge the torturous conditions at the U.S. Penitentiary 
Administrative Maximum (ADX) in Florence, Colorado. Both suits allege 
that the social isolation and sensory deprivation at ADX are so 
extreme that they drive prisoners to madness, self-mutilation, and 
suicide--yet the Bureau of Prisons offers them next to nothing in the 
way of mental health treatment.

We've published two previous posts (here 
<http://solitarywatch.com/2012/06/25/adx-federal-lawsuit/> and here 
<http://solitarywatch.com/2012/08/04/bureau-of-prisons-chief-sends-memo-to-federal-inmates-urging-them-not-to-kill-themselves/>) 
tracking Andrew Cohen's excellent, detailed reporting on these lawsuits. 
Yessterday, Cohen reported on the federal government's latest move, 
which was to file a motion to dismiss one of the suits. It concerns the 
death of Jose Martin Vega, who hanged himself in his cell at ADX in May 
2010. (Although Vega was unconscious and possibly dead when guards found 
him, they nonetheless shackled his hands and feet before removing him 
from his cell, as shown in photos from the Fremont County Coroner's 
Office.) Vega's family is alleging that "former ADX-Florence warden 
Blake R. Davis and other Bureau of Prison officials were "deliberately 
indifferent" to Vega's medical needs, including his mental health needs, 
which the family says were extensive and obvious."

    The complaint alleges, in graphic detail, how Vega lost his mind at
    Supermax. How he began to mutilate his own body. How he came to
    believe that the guards were poisoning his food and "violating his
    bodily integrity." When he complained, as he often did, in writing,
    prison staff typically told him that the results of his complaints
    were "not disclosable to" him. Now that he is dead, now that he can
    no longer testify about what was done to him, here is what the feds
    say to try to rid themselves of the responsibility of an accounting:

    Plaintiff makes no allegation that inmate Vega was in fact suffering
    from a serious mental illness requiring treatment at the time of his
    death (or at any time when Mr. Davis was the Warden at the ADX)...
    There are similarly no facts showing that any treatment was
    prescribed (or even indicated) for inmate Vega's mental condition.
    Further, there are no facts alleged showing that, objectively,
    inmate Vega was at an increased risk of suicide

    His prior (unidentified) suicide attempt in 2005 and self-mutilation
    in 2010 are insufficient to show, objectively, that inmate Vega was
    diagnosed by a physician with a serious mental illness mandating
    treatment or was suffering from a condition that was so obvious that
    even a lay person would easily recommend the necessity for a
    doctor's attention.

    You follow that twisted logic? The prison staff's repeated failure
    or refusal to treat Vega for his obvious mental illness now is being
    used as evidence by the government that Vega didn't need to be
    treated for his obvious mental illness. And since a "lay
    person"---like a juror, for example---wouldn't have viewed Vega's
    conduct before his suicide as "mandating treatment" lay
    people---like jurors---should not be allowed to review the evidence
    in this case to decide for themselves whether Supermax officials
    failed to meet their legal obligations to this prisoner.

Cohen's piece needs to be read in full to appreciate the extent of the 
"twisted logic," Catch-22s, and other tactics to which the federal 
government has resorted in trying to prove they are not responsible for 
the well being of a man they locked up in a small concrete box. As Cohen 
points out, "The aim of these motions are more than just depriving the 
nation of the truth of the matter. The aim is to protect public servants 
from ever having to answer publicly for their work." He concludes:

    Congress has no interest in reviewing cases like this---they aren't
    good politics. This summer, I tried to get someone at the Bureau of
    Prisons to respond to some of the allegations made against it, to
    explain how prisoners with mental illness are treated inside our
    federal prisons. Not only did the Bureau refuse to respond to my
    requests---not so much as a "no comment"---but the elected officials
    on Capitol Hill who are supposed to provide "oversight" of the
    Bureau, politicians of both parties, refused even to pass along my
    request. The truth is no one in power in Washington cares about
    these prisoners or what is being done to them in our name.

    And that leaves the courts. Both Supermax lawsuits now are before
    U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch, the nails-tough senior-status
    judge most famous for presiding over the Oklahoma City bombing
    trials. He has shown repeatedly over the past few decades that he is
    brave enough to take on the Bureau of Prisons. The question now is,
    will he? And if he does, will the appellate courts back him up long
    enough to ensure that someone, somewhere, has to answer for what
    happened to Jose Martin Vega---and what is happening, today, to
    other Supermax inmates?

-- 
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