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| Mont. Violated Inmate Rights, Court Says |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/12/2003 |
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Montana prison officials so mistreated a mentally ill inmate that they violated his right to human dignity and must change their policies to prevent similar cases, the Montana Supreme Court ruled. As discipline, Mark E. Walker was left naked - sometimes for weeks - in a cell soiled by blood and waste, without running water and nothing but a blanket. 'Our constitution forbids correctional practices which permit prisons in the name of behavior modification to disregard the innate dignity of human beings, especially in the context where those persons suffer from serious mental illness,' Justice James Nelson wrote for the court in the 6-1 opinion Tuesday. The court told District Judge Kenneth Neill of Great Falls to oversee changes in prison practices and file a report with the high court in six months. Walker served 2 1/2 years on a probation violation for forgery. He was released from prison in August 2001. While in prison, he filed a petition with the state Supreme Court complaining about alleged mistreatment. A district judge handling that case originally ruled that Walker was not subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. Walker has since filed a separate lawsuit seeking civil damages. That lawsuit is pending. 'The Supreme Court has drawn a line in the sand on what they will find to be tolerable and intolerable conduct on the part of the state. This will make resolution of the civil suit a little easier,' said Walker's attorney, Sunday Rossberg. Prison officials had concluded Walker had behavior problems but was not mentally ill. Corrections Director Bill Slaughter said the 'behavior management plans' used to deal with the Great Falls man were based on advice from national experts. Walker was treated for his mental illness when jailed in Colorado, but when he was extradited to Montana, prison officials concluded he was not mentally ill and stopped prescribing a drug that had been effective in controlling his behavior. That transformed Walker from a 'timid and quiet inmate into an excited, belligerent, hostile, disruptive and suicidal inmate,' the court said. As his behavior worsened, including three suicide attempts and hours of screaming in his cell, authorities began punishing him. Walker was periodically locked in his cell with no clothes and just a blanket for his bunk. |
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