ACLU suing Department of Corrections over treatment of inmates with mental illnesses

By: Brittany Comak

Email: bcomak@abc6.com

Twitter: @BComakABC6

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – The ACLU will take the Rhode Island Department of Corrections to court over what they say is inhumane treatment of inmates with mental illness.

A class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU Friday accuses the department of violating constitutional and statutory rights of prisoners with mental illness, saying solitary confinement is torture.

“Those with mental illness, even if they’re prisoners, should not come out of the ACI worse than they came in,” said Steven Brown, Executive Director of the RI ACLU.

There are six plaintiffs named in the lawsuit including the advocates from Disability Rights Rhode Island. The other five are current prisoners at the ACI.

Inside the complaint, their personal conditions and stories are detailed.

One woman tried to kill herself while segregated, and in response she was pepper sprayed, shackled, restrained to a chair, and punished for attempting suicide with more time in solitary confinement.

“This is wrong!” said Amy Fettig of the ACLU National Prison Project. “Solitary confinement literally drives people crazy.”

The lawsuit seeks to keep those with mental illness out of solitary confinement and to institute new policies, procedures, and treatment for those inmates.

“Prisoners with severe mental illness have suffered enough,” said Morna Murray of Disability Right RI. “RIDOC has knowingly continued a practice that is harmful, dangerous, and wrong.”

Below is a statement from RIDOC’s Chief of Information and Public Relations Officer, J.R. Ventura:

“RIDOC’s priority is the health and safety of our inmates, and we are committed to providing compassionate and appropriate care to everyone in our custody. We have taken proactive steps to ensure our staff is trained on best practices in helping those with mental illness, and we have partnered across state agencies to guarantee high-quality mental health care for inmates. We are proud of the practices that have been implemented and strongly dispute the ACLU’s claims.”

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