Judge dismisses Delaware prison abuse lawsuit

Dover attorney plans to appeal decision regarding Vaughn uprising

By Craig Anderson
Posted 4/5/21

DOVER — A Dover-based attorney plans to appeal the dismissal of a federal lawsuit alleging mistreatment of inmates at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, stemming from a deadly riot in …

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Judge dismisses Delaware prison abuse lawsuit

Dover attorney plans to appeal decision regarding Vaughn uprising

Posted

DOVER — A Dover-based attorney plans to appeal the dismissal of a federal lawsuit alleging mistreatment of inmates at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, stemming from a deadly riot in 2017.

The action was prompted by the uprising at the state’s largest prison four years ago and cited an array of allegations, including actions taken by the Delaware Department of Correction’s Correctional Emergency Response Team.

Delaware District Court Chief Judge Leonard P. Stark issued the dismissal in a 15-page opinion March 30.

The plaintiff’s attorney, Steven Hampton, who said he plans to take the action to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, said, “The judge did not find the complaint to be frivolous or without any merit but that it was not plead with sufficient particularity.

“We believe we plead sufficient facts to meet our standard of proof at this early stage of the litigation, considering that we have not obtained any discovery from defendants. Ultimately, the appeals court will decide whether or not our complaint was sufficient.”

According to DOC spokesman Jason Miller, “The Department of Correction has consistently argued that this frivolous litigation was without merit and must be dismissed. We are pleased the court has done so.”

The lawsuit was filed against Delaware Gov. John Carney and past and present DOC officials and officers on the behalf of more than 100 inmates inside the C building who were supposedly not involved in the uprising that left Correctional Officer Lt. Steven Floyd dead and two other correctional officers severely beaten.

The complaint was first filed in state court in October 2018 and was then moved to federal court. An amended version was filed in April 2020, he said. There were also amendments to fix typographical errors or make other minor adjustments, Mr. Hampton said.

In his opinion, Judge Stark characterized the first and third amended versions of the complaint as “shotgun pleading.”

Reasoned Judge Stark, “The Court agrees with the DOC defendants that the third amended complaint ‘includes broad allegations of harm suffered by scores of undifferentiated inmates caused by dozens of undifferentiated defendants.’ ”

Also, Judge Stark noted, “the Court previously addressed the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim, nothing that the Plaintiffs failed to link allegations to particular Plaintiffs.”

In the opinion, Judge Stark said “As the Court noted in March 2020, Plaintiffs’ theory alleged a conspiracy resulting from a planned scheme to violate Plaintiffs’ civil rights did not adequately flesh out allegations of direct deprivations of rights, nor communications among Defendants to do so.”

In discussing the decision to dismiss, Judge Stark said that “in this litigation, the Court has invested significant time and resources into parsing the language of the various complaints, which advance a web of confusing allegations that still do not make clear who allegedly did what to whom at what time ...”

Among other claims, the suit alleges that CERT team members “made no effort to distinguish the hostage-taking inmates from the inmate hostages. They shouted instructions to the inmates from outside their cells and told them to lie on the floor with their hands behind their backs.

“Most of the inmates had already done that and the rest complied with the order. Despite the inmates’ compliance and non-resistance, two or three CERT members entered each cell, jumped on the inmates’ backs, put extremely tight zip-ties on their wrists, and kicked, stomped, stood on, and spit on the inmates.

“CERT abused the passive inmates with batons, pepper spray and electrified riot shields and threatened to kill them if they resisted. CERT’s verbal and physical abuse was very consistent from cell to cell, as the CERT members clearly had an agreed-upon plan or policy on how to treat the inmates after the building was retaken.”

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