WAYMART, PA - The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), alleging that corrections officers at the United States Penitentiary (USP) Canaan brutally assaulted, sexually abused, and placed an incarcerated man with known epilepsy for about 40 hours near-naked in restraints, without food or water, and laying in urine and feces, while he had a seizure.
The plaintiff, Mr. Lawayne Natt is suing under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for assault and battery, negligence, and medical negligence.
Mr. Natt experienced a severe seizure while incarcerated at USP Canaan. Epilepsy causes Mr. Natt to frequently become disoriented and experience temporary paralysis in his limbs following a seizure. Within 30 minutes of being carried unconscious from his cell, and while still recovering from this seizure, Mr. Natt was unable to comply with an order to stand. Instead of providing necessary medical aid, BOP staff are accused of retaliating with a savage display of force and cruelty. Staff beat and sexually abused Mr. Natt before stripping him, resulting in the filing of claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for assault and battery.
“They preyed on someone who was ill and thought it was funny, but the humiliation and fear they caused stay with me,” said Mr. Natt. “I’m speaking out to expose the abuse and make clear that what happened to me was wrong. Nobody's sentence should include torture.”
Following the assault, Mr. Natt was placed in painful 4-point restraints, spending the next 40 hours near-naked, lying on a bare, concrete slab without adequate food or water, and left to lie in his own urine and excrement. While he was restrained in this inhumane condition, Mr. Natt suffered a second seizure.
The lasting physical and psychological trauma inflicted upon Mr. Natt has been severe. The lawsuit details that he now suffers from permanent scars on his ankles and nerve damage in his feet caused by the restraints. Furthermore, he frequently experiences vivid nightmares in which he relives the assault, often waking up sweating with blood in his mouth from biting his own tongue.
“Mr. Natt’s need for medical care post-seizure was obvious, but BOP staff responded to him with brutality and mockery. And then chose to extend that brutality for forty hours, denying Mr. Natt all dignity and subjecting him to excruciating pain.,” said Evangeline Wright, PILP attorney. “This lawsuit seeks to hold the Federal Bureau of Prisons accountable for these catastrophic failures of oversight, medical duty, and basic human decency.”
The lawsuit demands compensatory damages for the physical injuries, emotional distress, and ongoing medical and psychological treatment Mr. Natt requires as a result of the staff's actions.
Mr. Natt is represented by Evangeline Wright of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project in the case Natt v. United States of America, 1:25-cv-02261, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Read a full copy of the complaint at https://pilp.org/cases.
About the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP)
The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) protects and advances the constitutional and civil rights of people incarcerated in Pennsylvania through litigation, advocacy, and legal advice.