Promise of Justice Initiative joins trial for class action suit against David Wade Correctional Center for its inadequate mental health care and use of solitary confinement

Civil Rights Impact Litigation
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On January 10, 2022, trial began in Telis v. LeBlanc—a class action lawsuit about the conditions of confinement for those held in extended lockdown, particularly those with mental illness, at David Wade Correctional Center. The Promise of Justice Initiative (PJI) joined the trial team, comprised of attorneys from Disability Rights Louisiana, Tulane’s First Amendment Clinic and Adams & Reese LLP.

Disability Rights Louisiana and other non-profits have been litigating this case for almost four years, on behalf of men who have faced horrendous treatment at the hands of the State of Louisiana at this isolated prison in Northeast Louisiana.

“Being kept in isolation without adequate mental health care is causing our community members to deteriorate mentally. Many of these people have been kept in isolation for so long that they’ve exhibited signs of serious mental illness, that are exacerbated the longer they are denied access to a proper treatment plan,” said Nishi Kumar, Director of Civil Litigation at Promise of Justice Initiative. “We felt compelled to join the advocacy for these men and support their demands to end the cruel and unusual punishment they endure.”

Men held for excessive periods of time in David Wade’s extended lockdown who either had mental health needs or witnessed the conditions for those with severe mental illness testified on the first day about the prisons practices and the deterioration that occurs in such an environment.

The four-week trial is expected to address a number of allegations that the Louisiana Department of Corrections and the staff at David Wade Correctional Center are inflicting cruel and unusual punishment on the men incarcerated there on extended lockdown; are violating the Americans with Disabilities Act/Rehabilitation Act; and have interfered with the attorney-client relationship when men have sought help for the conditions on extended lockdown.

Experts will provide their opinions that the conditions at David Wade Correctional Center’s extended lockdown equate to what is commonly called solitary confinement. The trial team will show people held in extended lockdown at David Wade are not properly screened for mental health conditions, and do not receive proper diagnoses or treatment. The suit also alleges that some people with and without mental health conditions are kept in solitary confinement for more than 23 hours a day, a type of holding that creates and exacerbates mental health conditions, and often leads to self-harm. At its root, the case being presented to the U.S. Federal District Court judge in the Western District of Louisiana, is that the failure to provide adequate mental health care to these men creates a substantial risk of harm for them, and that David Wade’s failure to appropriately provide treatment for mental illness is resulting in suffering and injury to these men.

On the first day the federal district court heard evidence that windows are intentionally kept open during winter months, while incarcerated people wear only a thin paper gown for clothing. In Homer, Louisiana where David Wade is located, the outside temperature can drop to as low as 14 degrees F. This disciplinary tactic is so common that is referred to as “bluesing” or “getting bluesed” by people incarcerated there.

Dameion Brumfield described for the court what he witnessed occurring to another person on extended lockdown with serious mental health needs. “They’ll take him to the shower,” Brumfield said. “When he gets out of the shower, he’s soaking wet. … It’s in winter. 30 degrees. It’s freezing cold. There’s ice on our windows. They’ll bust open all the windows and turn on all the fans and point them in [his] cell while he’s soaking wet with a paper gown on. A mental health offender! And freeze him until they feel like he had enough.”

Evidence will be provided that mattresses are not returned to cells as a form of punishment, so incarcerated people are forced to stand or sleep on concrete. Suicide resistant mattresses are available, but often not distributed, and when distributed, stained by the bodily fluids of other incarcerated men. There will be testimony that people on suicide watch can be kept in a restraint chair, where all of their limbs are restrained, for days at a time. Additionally, the testimony will show the constant use of chemical agent sprays, akin to Mace, to punish the symptoms of untreated mental health conditions.

In addition to being kept in inhumane conditions, the trial evidence will show that people in extended lockdown are being denied their First Amendment rights. People in extended lockdown had their mail reviewed and were questioned about their outreach to attorneys. Incarcerated people have also reported that they have been threatened for their participation in the lawsuit, and offered a “good word” for not cooperating in the investigations into conditions at David Wade.

“Keeping people in these conditions and denying them access to legal resources, is not only inhumane, but serves no other purpose than to degrade and dehumanize our incarcerated community members. It’s our hope that these grave injustices will be recognized by the court, and they will soon have access to the proper mental health care that they deserve,” Kumar said.

Coverage on the David Wade trial:

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