Associated Press
JACKSON, Mich. — A jury has awarded $1,251 to a Michigan prisoner who said his rights were violated when a guard prevented him from embracing his wife during a visit.
Jurors in Detroit federal court last week awarded $1 for a violation of Kevin King’s First Amendment rights and $1,250 as punitive damages.
King says prison officer Tiffaney Williams retaliated against him for past complaints when she barred him from embracing his wife. They had to sit a few feet apart during a 2012 visit at a prison in Jackson.
Judge Matthew Leitman had refused to dismiss the case, saying the Kings had been deprived of their “sole form of intimacy.” The Corrections Department said it wasn’t a constitutional violation.
The 52-year-old King is serving a life sentence for murder in Oakland County.