ACLU Lawsuit Charges Grossly Inadequate Medical Care At State Prison In Nevada
Prisoners At Risk Of Pain, Injury And Premature Death
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2582 or 2666; media@aclu.org
ELY, NV – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit today against the director of Nevada’s Department of Corrections and other top governmental officials in Nevada for failing to rectify a pervasive pattern of grossly inadequate medical care at the Ely State Prison that creates a substantial risk of serious medical harm for each of the prison’s 1,000 inmates. The lawsuit charges that the prison lacks the most basic elements of an adequate prison health care system and deprives prisoners of the minimal civilized measure of life’s necessities.
“The state just hasn't shown a sense of urgency in addressing the crisis at Ely,” said Amy Fettig, staff counsel with the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “They assured us that they were going to carry out far-reaching reforms to address the problems we brought to their attention, but that was months ago and they've made only half-hearted gestures to fix their broken system. We had hoped to avoid litigation but we can't in good conscience wait any longer, with the men at Ely still at such risk.”
The filing of today’s lawsuit comes nearly three months after the release of a medical report that documented how gravely ill prisoners at Ely are routinely denied treatment for excruciatingly painful and potentially fatal medical conditions and revealed what Dr. William Noel, the medical expert commissioned by the ACLU to investigate medical conditions inside Ely and author of the report, called “a pattern of gross medical abuse.”
On the heels of the report’s release last December, ACLU attorneys proposed in a consent decree a series of basic reforms that would have dramatically improved prison health care at Ely, including complying with nationally recognized standards for correctional health care. The proposed consent decree was rejected by Nevada’s Board of State Prison Commissioners.
The ACLU’s National Prison Project retained Noel to review the medical records of 35 prisoners at Ely because the ACLU of Nevada had been receiving an extraordinarily large number of complaints about grossly inadequate medical treatment at the prison.
“Prisoners at the Ely State Prison have written to us in desperate need of help, in desperate need of quality medical treatment,” said Lee Rowland, staff attorney with the ACLU of Nevada. “It is unfortunate that this action was necessary to prompt corrections officials to uphold their constitutional obligation of providing a basic level of medical care to the inmates in their care, but quality care is an immediate need that cannot be delayed any longer.”
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of all of Ely’s prisoners – more than 60 of whom are currently sitting on death row – contains six named plaintiffs, including 36-year-old David Riker who, according to the lawsuit, suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia that cause debilitating chronic pain. The lawsuit alleges that Riker has never received prescribed medications and x-rays ordered by an outside physician and was told by Ely medical staff that treating chronic pain is against the policy of the prison.
In his report, Noel calls Riker’s untreated protopathic nerve pain “a living hell” and says he finds it “simply unimaginable” that a medical professional would refuse to treat such severe, chronic pain.
The ACLU names as defendants in its lawsuit Nevada Governor James Gibbons, Secretary of State Ross Miller, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, Howard Skolnik, director of the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC), Robert Bannister, NDOC’s medical director, and E.K. McDaniel, the warden of Ely State Prison.
“The level of medical care provided at Ely is as horrific as any we have ever seen at any of the prison systems that we track across the country,” said Margaret Winter, Associate Director of the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “We have been stunned at the amount of human suffering that is allowed to go on there. And while we had hoped that working collaboratively with the Department of Corrections and the governor’s office would lead to the resolution of some of the most pressing issues at Ely, it simply has not.”
Other named plaintiffs in the lawsuit include 42-year-old Roger Libby, whose requests for surgery to repair his softball-sized hernia have been denied, 46-year-old Rickey Sechrest, whose chronic intermittent Herpetic Iritis of his right eye has gone untreated and could cause blindness and who has not received treatment for his Hepatitis C, 36-year-old Terrence Brothers who has suffered from untreated open sores on his scalp for more than 10 years, 36-year-old Jeffrey Hosmer whose chronic severe back and neck pain and numbness on his left side have gone untreated despite his living in the prison’s infirmary and whose medication for bi-polar disorder is often interrupted, and 47-year-old Mark Whittington, who has suffered continual problems with arbitrarily discontinued medications and dosages of prescribed medications running out for his serious medical conditions.
Additional information about the ACLU’s efforts to improve medical conditions at the Ely State Prison, including the ACLU’s lawsuit, the proposed consent decree, Dr. William Noel’s medical report, an ACLU letter to Nevada Gov. James Gibbons and an ACLU letter to Nevada Department of Corrections Director Howard Skolnik can be found online at: www.aclu.org/ely
Smart Justice
Prisoners' Rights
Health Care at Ely State Prison
Smart Justice
Prisoners' Rights
Health Care at Ely State Prison
Learn More About the Issues in This Press Release
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
Smart Justice
ACLU Celebrates President Biden’s Clemency Announcement, Allowing Hundreds to Remain in Their CommunitiesACLU Celebrates President Biden’s Clemency Announcement, Allowing Hundreds to Remain in Their Communities
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Press ReleaseSep 2024
Criminal Law Reform
+2 Issues
Judge Orders Supervision System in Washington, D.C. to Accommodate People with DisabilitiesJudge Orders Supervision System in Washington, D.C. to Accommodate People with Disabilities
WASHINGTON – A federal court granted a preliminary injunction yesterday in a case filed on behalf of people with disabilities on parole and supervised release in Washington, D.C., ordering immediate action to address discriminatory conditions faced by the two named plaintiffs. The court also denied the government’s motion to dismiss, allowing the case to proceed. The case, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of D.C., Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, and Latham & Watkins LLP, challenges the federal government’s post-conviction supervision system in Washington, D.C. for systematically ignoring the needs of people with disabilities, thereby setting them up for failure on supervision and putting them at constant risk of sanctions, including incarceration. As the court held in its decision, such accommodations are likely required under federal disability law, specifically the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The preliminary injunction requires that the United States Parole Commission and the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA), the two federal agencies responsible for supervision in D.C., assess what reasonable accommodations the two named plaintiffs require to have an equal opportunity to succeed on supervision, and provide all such required accommodations. “Absent an injunction,” the court’s decision reads, “the Parolees will be forced to participate in the Government’s supervision programs on an unequal footing just because of their disabilities.” People on supervision in D.C. are required to comply with myriad and onerous rules. For people with disabilities, navigating these complex conditions is even more challenging. For example, Plaintiff Mr. Mathis — a 70-year-old military veteran with congestive heart failure that limits his ability to walk — struggles to travel throughout the city to attend frequent supervision meetings that often conflict with necessary medical procedures and hospitalizations. His supervision officer required him to wear an ankle monitor even after his doctor warned the monitor would jeopardize his health due to his heart condition. Plaintiff Mr. Davis, who lives with chronic pain stemming from third-degree burns as well as mental health conditions, also faces disability-related barriers getting to required meetings. Yet failing to meet any of these conditions, even something as simple as missing an appointment, can land a person back in jail or prison, even when no new criminal conduct is alleged. The court agreed that “absent immediate relief, the Parolees will face irreparable harm; namely, obstacles to success on supervision solely because of their disabilities, which expose them to downstream harms like revocation and reincarceration.” The court did not decide whether it will ultimately certify a class that could yield relief for all people on supervision in D.C. who need accommodations. Instead, the court directed the parties to agree on a schedule for further proceedings on that issue. “The undue hardships faced by people with disabilities on federal criminal supervision in the District of Columbia have gone unaddressed for too long,” said Scott Michelman, legal director, ACLU of the District of Columbia. “This decision is a victory for equal treatment and common sense.” “The Court’s opinion emphatically rejects the federal government's ‘do-nothing’ policy for people with disabilities on supervision in Washington, D.C., who have been forced to navigate onerous requirements without accommodations for decades,” said Allison Frankel, staff attorney with the ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project. “This ruling ensures that our named Plaintiffs will have the accommodations they need to have a fair shot at completing parole and remaining in their communities.“ “We are thrilled the Court recognized that the Parole Commission and CSOSA must accommodate our clients’ disabilities so that they have an equal opportunity to succeed on supervision,” said Zoé Friedland, staff attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. “We will keep fighting to make this relief permanent and systemic so that all people on supervision have an equal chance to succeed.” The decision on the preliminary injunction can be found here: /cases/mathis-v-united-states-parole-commission?document=Preliminary-Injunction-Opinion The complaint can be found here: /documents/w-mathis-v-united-states-parole-commission-complaint -
Press ReleaseJul 2024
Smart Justice
Just City And Legal Advocates Challenge Tennessee’s Unprecedented Bail LawJust City And Legal Advocates Challenge Tennessee’s Unprecedented Bail Law
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Press ReleaseJul 2024
Reproductive Freedom
+2 Issues
Court Rejects Attempt to Dismiss Case Seeking Accountability for Wrongful Prosecution of AbortionCourt Rejects Attempt to Dismiss Case Seeking Accountability for Wrongful Prosecution of Abortion
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