By Pharos-Tribune
Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, Ind.
INDIANAPOLIS — The ACLU of Indiana has finalized settlements totaling more than $1.2 million on behalf of 31 people who were held in abusive conditions at Miami Correctional Facility in Miami County.
The lawsuits were filed against the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) over the plaintiffs’ placement in cells with metal-covered windows and no working lights. People held in these cells were confined in total or near-total darkness.
In some cells, live wires hung from the ceiling, shocking people as they attempted to navigate the darkness. Some people were confined under these conditions for months and were rarely permitted out of their cells.
The litigation began in early 2021 with a case filed on behalf of Jeremy Blanchard, followed by a flood of additional affected inmates, resulting in 30 more cases filed.
The lawsuits detailed the extreme physical and psychological harm these conditions caused, including injuries, panic attacks, hallucinations, and self-harm. A corrections expert who reviewed the unit said he had never seen “such a blatant and systematic application of isolation and sensory deprivation, deviating from correctional standards and common sense,” according to a press release from the ACLU.
“After more than five years of litigation, these settlements bring some measure of justice to people who have endured horrific abuse at Miami Correctional Facility,” said Ken Falk, Legal Director at the ACLU of Indiana. “The Eighth Amendment protects people in state custody from cruel and unconstitutional conditions, and our clients showed enormous courage in coming forward with their experiences.”
The settlement comes more than a week after an 82-year-old inmate died in custody.
The Indiana State Police did not release details surrounding the death of Billy A. Wilson, but a department media release said detectives were called in on April 17 to investigate.
An autopsy is being conducted to determine the exact cause of death.
Wilson is the second inmate to die in the facility this month and the fourth in the last six months.
Last November, police say 36-year-old J. Trinidad Ramirez was stabbed to death during an altercation with nine other MCF inmates, who are all now facing charges related to the incident.
The next month, ISP was called in to assist in the death investigation of 38-year-old inmate Anthony Barbee.
According to Miami County Coroner John Bowyer, Barbee’s death was ruled a homicide due to asphyxiation. No arrests have yet been made in that case.
Then three weeks ago, investigators were called in relation to the death of 50-year-old inmate Shawn Booker.
Police did not provide specific details of Booker’s death, and Bowyer said the coroner’s office is waiting on toxicology reports to release an official cause and manner of death.
The inmates’ deaths also come in the wake of other recent public criticism surrounding MCF, particularly regarding the deaths of two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees that were housed at the facility.
According to ICE officials in a Congressional death notification shared online earlier this month, Vietnam native Tuan Van Bui , 55, was found unresponsive in his cell on Wednesday, April 1.
On Feb. 16, 59-year-old Lorth Sim of Cambodia was found unresponsive in his cell shortly after 7 p.m.
According to the Department of Homeland Security website, the two-year partnership between the agency and the state of Indiana has allowed for 1,000 beds to be used at the Miami County facility to house ICE detainees like Bui and Sims.
Officials also note the detainees, all men, are being kept separate from the general population of MCF inmates and receive extensive medical care.
But during a visit to MCF on April 9, U.S. Rep. André Carson held a press conference with a group of anti-ICE protestors and disputed those claims.
Carson said he spoke with two ICE detainees who told him they were upset at the lack of access to everything from legal counsel to nail clippers and haircuts.
Carson said the detainees also complained about a lack of a functioning intercom system to report emergencies, difficulty accessing medical care and inconsistent access to necessities.
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