THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407170072
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LAURA LAFAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
The staff at Nevada's maximum security Ely State Prison gases, shoots, beats, kicks, hogties and stuns inmates with electric tasers, or cattle prods, according to a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of four inmates by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Filed May 16 - only a few days after newly appointed state corrections boss Ron Angelone left his job in Nevada to come to Virginia - the suit names Nevada Gov. Robert Miller, Ely State Prison Warden E.K. McDaniel and acting Department of Prisons director Karl Sannicks as defendants.
Among the practices it describes:
Cell extractions. Used to punish and control inmates, cell extractions at Ely begin when correctional officers dressed in riot gear empty a canister of ``chemical agent'' into an inmate's cell, then rush in with ``an electric riot shield and an electrified mini-baton.'' ``The guards attack the prisoner using these weapons, and kick and punch him as well. When the prisoner is subdued, guards `hogtie' the prisoner in restraints and continue to assault/beat and/or kick the prisoner.''
Strip status: In this punishment technique, prisoners are deprived of all bedding and clothing except for underwear, then left alone in poorly heated or unheated cells for 24 to 72 hours. Correctional officers return the possessions gradually, depending on an inmate's conduct. Mattresses are typically returned first, but are often removed again because prisoners rip them open and climb inside for warmth.
Beatings: Prisoners who fail to obey direct orders are placed in restraints and beaten by correctional officers. ``These beatings occur in the sergeant's office or other offices located in the administrative building. The beatings are savage, brutal, and are conducted under the supervision of supervisory personnel.''
Body-cavity searches: As a condition of leaving their cells for recreation, prisoners must be strip-searched, placed in full restraints and led by a ``dog chain'' to the recreation yard. They must undergo the same procedure before they can see visitors or take showers. Often, their cells are stripped and searched while they are away. ``Because of the degradation attendant to being restrained, stripped naked, and having the cell searched . and months on end.''
Contraband policy: ``Prisoners `suspected' of carrying contraband in their stomachs are placed in a strip cell and left there until they void into a waste basket. One prisoner was left in a strip cell for three full days before he was able to void and establish that the defendants were mistaken in their suspicions.''
Shoot-to- wound policy: ``Order is maintained and prisoner behavior is controlled by enforcement of the shooting policy. In addition to fighting, the failure to obey an order to disperse, or to fall to the ground, or even `stepping over the line' on the way to the dining room, are all grounds for being fired upon.'' In September 1992, the suit alleges, four correctional officers shot 12 rounds at inmates Miguel Ramirez and Sean Edwards because the two were fighting. Both prisoners suffered ``extensive injuries.''
Nevada has not filed a formal response to the suit. But in a June 20 letter to one of the lawyers involved, Deputy Attorney General Harold A. Swafford called the suit ``frivolous'' and threatened to force the plaintiffs' lawyers to pay the state's expenses. The lawyer, Reno criminal defense attorney Donald York Evans, remains unswayed.
``We're going to win,'' he says. ``We can substantiate everything.''
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