
Whether you are taken into police custody or serving time in jail or prison, you have rights, and our law firm protects those rights. While in custody, the government is responsible, to a reasonable extent, for your safety and health. If you are injured or killed while in detention due to the neglect or abuse by staff or other prisoners, the government may be held legally accountable and may be required to compensate you or your family for your injuries or wrongful death. Our attorneys investigate your claims and ensure you and your family receive the maximum compensation available by law.
Prison Abuse and Jail Wrongful Death Cases
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Media often covers overcrowding issues, violence, and prison riots, but it doesn’t usually cover the despair and desperation inmates may feel while serving their sentence in public or private facilities. When you were imprisoned, you lost your freedom, but not your constitutional rights. Our attorneys help victims of jail and prison neglect, misconduct, excessive force, and abuse in jail, prisons and detention centers across the country.
Prison is meant to take people out of their communities and for the sake of public safety, assist inmates in rehabilitation and reform. And while there is no place in the criminal justice system for negligence and abuse, lawsuits have been filed across the country on behalf of inmates who have suffered terrible abuses and severe neglect.
How bad is abuse and neglect in the criminal justice system? Consider that a 2015 Human Right Watch report found that abuse by officers has left inmates with severe injuries that required hospitalization. Some abuses that have been reported include:
- Broken bones
- Head injuries
- Broken noses
- Broken ribs
- Lacerations
- Second-degree burns
- Internal organ damage
Media outlets have reported allegations of fractured skulls, brain injury, and inmates left in comas after being beaten as well as inmates dying after being denied basic necessities like water. In fact, force has even been used against inmates who suffer mental disabilities that prevent them from understanding what they are being told by correction officers.
Inmate Abuse Lawsuits
Whether you are detained by law enforcement or incarcerated for violating state or federal laws, you have a constitutional right to:
- Be free from racial discrimination or segregation
- Be free from verbal abuse
- Express complaints about living conditions
- Live free from sexual crime
- Live in humane conditions in humane facilities
- Medical care and attention
- Mental health care
- Voice complaints and be heard in court
Yet, reports of inmates suffering personal injury and being denied their constitutional rights and rights violations by prison guards have been filed across the United States.
For example, just some of the abuse cases that received media coverage in the past few years include the following:
- Delaware – Inmates charged in correction officer’s death file a federal lawsuit against corrections officials claiming they were mentally, physically, and emotionally abused. A class lawsuit has been filed on behalf of inmates who were not charged in the 2017 riot that claimed the life of Officer Steven Floyd.
- Georgia – Lawsuit claims corrections officials approved of and encouraged sadistic abuse of inmates to cause pain and injury. Allegations include three inmates suffered harm including bruising, lacerations, bloody mouths and noses, fractured jaws, fractured eye sockets, and were knocked unconscious even while they were cuffed and in view of others. In 2018, another federally-filed lawsuit alleged that two inmates were sadistically abused. One inmate suffered a fractured skull and the other required brain surgery. Inmates say they were handcuffed when they were subjected to cruel and unusual punishment.
- Utah – Four inmates file a lawsuit against Utah Department of Corrections alleging they were attacked by police dogs and shocked with tasers while detained in the Daggett County Jail. The sheriff and various deputies involved in the abuse pleaded guilty to misconduct charges. The jail was ordered closed in 2017.
- Michigan – Former inmate sues prison officials alleging current and former officials failed to protect him and knowingly and repeatedly put his life in danger. The man said he was stabbed numerous time, been in countless fights, and even been poisoned. v
- New York – Federal lawsuit filed on behalf of a state prison inmate who alleges a pattern of abuses carried out by or approved by officers at the correctional facility in Dannemora. The lawsuit says the victim was beaten unconscious by a prison gang member and left with skull, cheekbone, and nose fractures and suffered brain hemorrhages, while a correction officer watched.
If you or someone you love is suffering abuse or neglect while a detainee or incarcerated, contact our office today to find out of you are eligible to seek justice and compensation.
Are You Eligible to File a Prison/Jail Abuse or Wrongful Death Claim?
Prison or jail abuses can include being abused by a guard, another prisoner, or from inadequate care or conditions. Some examples of abuses for which you may be entitled to seek legal recourse include:
- Cruel or unusual punishment or being stripped of human dignities
- Destruction of personal property
- Excessive use of force – kicking, punching, hitting you with batons or flashlights, unreasonable use of pepper spray, restraints, or tasers
- Failure to be kept safe from rape, stabbings, beatings, and assaults
- Failure to provide adequate mental, dental, or medical attention or care
- Living in inhumane conditions – unsanitary conditions, no plumbing, no heat, no electricity, overcrowding
When conditions are too bad, guard and prisoner violence increase, sometimes leading to riots. It doesn’t have to be this way. If you are suffering abuse or negligent behavior or actions, contact our prison abuse attorneys now. We help inmates, and their family members seek justice.
You Must Act Quickly to File a Prison/Jail Abuse or Wrongful Death Claim
If you or your loved one has suffered abuse, been a victim of neglect, or suffered fatal injuries, you only have a set period of time to file a claim. The length of time you have is set by individual states, so where you could have three years in some states to file a claim, in others, you may only have months. This time limit is called the statute of limitations, and once the time limit has passed, you will be barred forever from bringing a claim, and the clock starts ticking the moment the abuse occurs.
You must also act quickly to file a claim so our attorneys can begin an investigation of your allegations. Consider that jail and prison officials can change records, get rid of evidence or do other things to help their case. The fact is, you are stuck in a cell, while they are free to do what they want and the longer you wait to take action against physical abuse, human rights violations, police brutality, or prisoner abuse or neglect, the harder is it to investigate your claims and collect the evidence and eyewitness accounts you may need to prove your case. While no one can take away your constitutional rights, they can make them more difficult to defend if given enough time. If you or your loved one is suffering jail abuse or neglect, do not hesitate to contact our firm today.
We Can Help Victims of Prison & Jail Abuse, Injury, and Wrongful Death
Our jail death and prison abuse lawyers advocate for inmate’s rights, and we have won millions on behalf of our clients. Our skilled negotiators and aggressive litigators have helped inmates successfully reach fair and equitable settlements and awards in cases of prisoner abuse:
- failure of jail staff to provide suicide watch
- failure to provide necessary medication
- failure to treat a medical condition
- inmate abuse or neglect
- inmate sexual abuse
- Inmate sexual assault
- jail or prison neglect
- prison medical malpractice
- psychological abuse
- unlawful strip searches
- wrongful death while in jail or prison
When prison guards or jail officials violate detainees’ or inmates’ civil rights or allow other inmates to abuse those rights, they may be held liable for those violations and the victim may be entitled to compensation for damages. But proving these violations can be challenging and complex. If you or your loved one is suffering abuse in jail or prison, you need the assistance of a deeply experienced law firm. Our reputation was built on our skills and experience in negotiations and litigation, and we will fight to ensure you get justice.
If you are the victim of jail or prison abuse or neglect, do not hesitate to contact a rights attorney at our firm now for a free consultation. We have offices in Texas and New York, and our rights lawyers handle cases from across the country. Our team of trial lawyers, expert witnesses, and abuse investigators can help you seek the justice you need and the compensation you deserve for jail or prison abuse or wrongful death that you or your loved suffered.
Call Now For a Free & Confidential Case Evaluation 866-287-5130