By Solomon Gustavo
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PITTSBURGH — An inmate at a Pennsylvania prison was successful in convincing a jury that two correctional officers subjected him to cruel and unusual punishment in a case that involved candy, a lamp stand and a stint in solitary confinement.
The civil suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, claimed prison staff at State Correctional Institution – Greene (SCI Greene) in Greene County denied the inmate, Maurice D. Able, 43, things like sleep, reading materials, time outside, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and held him in solitary confinement long after he had been cleared of possessing drug contraband in 2018.
Able’s attorneys said his treatment violated the Eighth Amendment, the constitutional clause barring the federal government from inflicting cruel and unusual punishment.
In a verdict delivered late Monday, the jury found that Able proved his case against two prison staffers, setting punitive damages for Candice Lackey, a unit manager at SCI Greene, at $37,500. Another officer, Michael Beers, owes nominal damages of $1, and punitive damages of $0.
It was not clear whether the defendants would file an appeal.
A third correctional officer was found not guilty by the jury.
The dispute began Aug. 21, 2018, when two drug dogs and their handlers searched Able’s room at SCI Greene with neither finding narcotics. The next step in such cases, according to trial testimony, is that two prison officers are assigned to various cells to do a manual search.
In this case, an officer who was not assigned to Able’s cell, according to Able’s complaint, entered Able’s cell. “Can I have some candy?” the suit alleges the officer asked Able.
Able told the jurors that he said no, adding, “You get to go home tonight, what do you want with my candy?”
“You want to play like that?” said the officer, who was dismissed as a defendant but testified in the case as a witness, according to the suit, and left the cell.
The officers assigned to Able’s cell then conducted their search and found no drugs.
The suit alleges that the first officer returned, took a box containing Able’s belongings — as well as Able’s candy, which included Nips and Frooties.
He conducted a lengthy search until he emerged with a black glove containing a white powder found in the base of a lamp. He also found pieces of wet paper in a Nips box. Preliminary tests on the powder — 67 grams — tested positive for cocaine, and the test of the paper had a preliminary result for synthetic cannabinoids, or K2, according to testimony.
Able was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of contraband, and he was moved to a solitary confinement unit. The unit he was transported to is reserved for people with mental illness, although Able had no history of mental health issues, according to the suit.
While the drug-related charges were dismissed, the suit alleges he was still held in solitary confinement.
After about six days, he made a verbal complaint, saying he was denied legal documents and access to the law library, a change of underwear and time outside in the yard.
The mental health unit, he alleged, was full of people yelling and making loud noises, to the point that he was unable to sleep. Able said he brought up his requests for his belongings and other issues to several prison staff members, including one who told him, “They don’t have the manpower to do it right now.”
On day 31 in solitary confinement, Able was given his legal materials and other essential material. On day 50, he was sent back to the general population.
Able’s attorney, Rachel McElroy, of McElroy Law Firm in Downtown Pittsburgh, said the correctional officers passed the buck instead of addressing his basic, constitutionally protected needs. “Not my shift, not my problem, is not a defense,” Ms. McElroy told the jury.
The defense argued officers did not deprive Able of the basics, just erred in not properly documenting each instance he was provided with necessities like sleep, clean clothes and fresh air.
“The defendants are not on trial for imperfect paperwork,” said Joan Ohwe Ojo, attorney for the defense and senior deputy attorney general for the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, during her closing statement.
The defense argued that the white powder and wet paper may not have been cocaine or K2, but Able did have other contraband in his cell, saying that materials he claimed were art supplies used to make origami-like flowers were actually contraband. He testified that the powder, which was either salt or baking soda, was used to anchor his lamp, which would fall over otherwise.
That justified moving him from his unit, and he was sent to the mental illness solitary confinement unit because there were issues with bed spacing, said Ms. Ohwe Ojo.
She pointed to Able’s own testimony, when he told the jury that he received two pairs of boxers and two T-shirts in September 2018 .
“There is no credible evidence of a serious or extreme deprivation,” Ms. Ohwe Ojo said.
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