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Inmate seeks end to solitary over refusal to cut dreadlocks

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February 25, 2020 | Associated Press | Mark Scolforo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — An inmate awaiting trial in a shooting case wants a federal judge to release him from solitary confinement in a central Pennsylvania county jail, where he has been for more than a year because he refuses to cut dreadlocks that hold religious significance for him.

The hand-written lawsuit filed in October by Eric S. McGill Jr. against three senior administrators at the Lebanon County Correctional Facility shifted gears last week, when a group of lawyers produced an amended complaint that warned McGill’s mental health is deteriorating.

It said McGill, 27, of Lebanon, an adherent of Rastafarianism, suffers anxiety attacks two or three times a week, and they are usually triggered by thoughts of his jail conditions and placement in solitary.

“By keeping Mr. McGill in solitary confinement because he refuses to cut off his dreadlocks, (the) defendants have inhibited his right to free exercise of religion for no legitimate penological purpose,” his lawyers with the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project told the court last week, seeking an order that he be placed in the jail’s general population, as well as damages.

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His hair is sacred. But to get out of solitary confinement, his jailers say he must cut it off.

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February 25, 2020 | PA Post | Joseph Darius Jafaari

A Rastafarian inmate has been in solitary confinement for a year. The jail’s warden said he can get out if he cuts his hair.

The Lebanon County Correctional Facility’s handbook says no inmate can have long hair unless it is worn in a ponytail or a bun. But for many Black inmates, that rule doesn’t apply. Instead, they are placed in solitary confinement if they refuse to cut their hair.

One inmate currently in segregated housing says that policy violates his religious rights. Eric McGill, who is Black, wears his hair in dreadlocks. A practicing Rastafarian, McGill has refused to cut his hair since he was taken into custody more than a year ago. (Rastafarians do not cut their hair, ascribing to a strict reading of the Old Testament that forbids it.)

McGill, 27, reached out to PA Post in January this year, saying he was placed in segregated housing on Jan. 19, 2019, because of his refusal to cut his dreadlocks.

“I’ve haven’t cut them due to my beliefs and way of life,” he said in an online message to PA Post.

Inmates kept in solitary confinement are allowed just five to 20 minutes of time outside their cell per day. McGill is also limited to two hours a day to make phone calls to his family — between midnight and 2 a.m. Not uncommon for people who are in solitary for extended periods of time, McGill has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, severe depression and anxiety, according to court records.

In an affidavit filed with the court, Robert J. Karnes, the warden of the Lebanon County jail, said inmates who choose to cut off their dreadlocks are able to leave solitary confinement.

Though not mentioned in the handbook directly, dreadlocks and other long hair styles are forbidden, corrections officials say, because inmates can use the hair to hide weapons or contraband.

According to the affidavit Karnes signed, McGill hasn’t committed any other infractions to justify solitary confinement.

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Press Release: Man Held in Solitary Confinement for Refusing to Cut Off Dreadlocks Sues Lebanon County

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 19, 2020

Press contact:
Rebecca Susman, Communications Manager, Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project Email: rsusman@pailp.org
Phone: 412-254-4771

PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) filed a motion for preliminary injunction today on behalf of Eric S. McGill, Jr., a pretrial detainee at Lebanon County Correctional Facility (LCCF) who has been held in solitary confinement for over a year solely because he refuses to cut off his dreadlocks. Lebanon County’s practice of punishing people who refuse to cut their dreadlocks, without allowing for religious exemptions, violates Mr. McGill’s rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).

In compliance with his Rastafarian faith, Mr. McGill does not cut his hair and has not for several years. Mr. McGill believes that his spirit lives through his dreadlocks and to cut them off would be to lose his strength and essence needed for the afterlife. Lebanon County’s own rules and regulations allow incarcerated people to have long hair if it is tied up or in a single ponytail. Despite Mr. McGill offering to tie his hair up in a ponytail, Lebanon County continues to detain him in solitary confinement.

“Mr. McGill has endured solitary confinement for over a year, conditions internationally recognized as torture, for adhering to his faith and refusing to cut his dreadlocks. This flies in the face of RLUIPA, passed by Congress to ensure that incarcerated people have the same religious liberty as all Americans,” stated Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project Managing Attorney Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz.

Mr. McGill has been in solitary confinement since January 19, 2019. He is only allowed out of his cell for at most one hour per day, five days per week, between midnight and 2:00AM. This is also the only time he is permitted to make calls to his family. These conditions have exacerbated his PTSD and caused him frequent panic attacks and additional psychological trauma. In today’s filing, the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project asked the Court to order Lebanon County to transfer Mr. McGill from solitary confinement to general population.

“Contrary to what Lebanon County prison staff have asserted, dreadlocks do not present a security or cleanliness concern. Dozens of jail and prison systems across the United States permit prisoners to have dreadlocks. Lebanon County’s placement of Mr. McGill in solitary confinement is purely punitive and serves no legitimate purpose,” said Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project staff attorney Matthew A. Feldman. “It is not lost on us or Mr. McGill that Lebanon County is singling out a Black hairstyle and a Black religion for this discriminatory, inhumane, and illegal treatment.”

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project is representing Eric McGill, Jr. in the case Eric S. McGill, Jr. v. Clements, et al., Case No. 19-cv-01712, filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Read the press release pdf here

Case documents
Amended Complaint
Motion for Preliminary Injunction

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Transgender Pa. prison inmate sues Corrections Dept., claiming they were denied proper healthcare

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February 12, 2020 | Pennsylvania Capital-Star | Elizabeth Hardison

A transgender prisoner at a women’s prison in northwestern Pennsylvania is suing the state Department of Corrections, saying that bureaucratic hurdles, inadequate medical training, and invasions of privacy put them on a path to depression and self-mutilation.

The lawsuit, filed last month in the U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania’s Western District in Pittsburgh, seeks monetary damages and immediate medical care and housing accommodations for the prisoner, who was identified at birth as a woman, but does not identify as male or female now, according to court documents. 

It also names a dozen corrections employees as defendants, including Corrections Secretary John Wetzel and prison psychologists, doctors and staff.

Corrections spokeswoman Susan McNaughton said on Tuesday that the agency does not comment on litigation.

The prisoner, identified in court filings by the pseudonym Sam Doe, is being represented by the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, a statewide legal aid organization that litigates prisoner civil rights claims. 

The attorneys say the prison’s failure to properly administer Doe’s testosterone treatment caused Doe significant anguish and physical harm. That violated Doe’s rights under the eighth amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which outlaws cruel and unusual punishment for prisoners, they said.

Read more →

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Press Release: PA Institutional Law Project Files Lawsuit Against the PA DOC for Denying Transgender Medical Care and Disclosing Client’s Gender Identity to Other Prisoners Without Consent.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 10, 2020

Press contact:
Rebecca Susman, Communications Manager, Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project Email: rsusman@pailp.org
Phone: 412-254-4771

ERIE, PA – The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) filed a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PA DOC) on behalf of Sam Doe (they/them), a non- binary person incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Cambridge Springs, one of two women’s state prisons in Pennsylvania. Doe has been denied necessary medical care, including access to a doctor specializing in transgender health and gender affirming surgery, in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Despite numerous requests, Doe has been denied vital medical care endorsed by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s Standards of Care. Due to the lack of on-site medical expertise for treating transgender and non-binary individuals, Doe has been required to repeatedly educate the medical staff on these nationally recognized guidelines. The failure of the PA DOC to provide consistent hormone therapy, necessary transition care, and accommodations for Doe’s safety and social transition lead to a serious act of self-harm.

Doe has been unable to obtain further essential medical care as PA DOC policy requires that treatment decisions can only be authorized by a state-wide administrative committee, located a five hour drive from Cambridge Springs in Mechanicsburg, PA. This committee does not include any medical professionals directly involved in Doe’s care.

“Rather than providing Doe with access to knowledgeable specialists, and training the on-site providers for this crucial and life-saving medical need, PA DOC has decided to single out transgender healthcare for a lengthy administrative process that disregards medical judgement,” said Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz, PILP Managing Attorney, “Healthcare should not be decided by an administrative committee.”

In addition to advocating for medical care, PILP seeks to ensure that Doe has access to safe housing and to other necessary accommodations. Previously, PA DOC staff severely jeopardized Doe’s safety when they revealed Doe’s gender identity and history of self-harm. This instigated harassment and threats of violence causing Doe to fear even walking to meals alone. To this day, Doe continues to experience severe psychological distress as a result of being outed without their consent and PA DOC’s refusal to provide them with adequate medical care.

“Prisons have a duty to provide essential medical care and safe accommodations to all incarcerated people, regardless of gender identity. Unfortunately, the PA Department of Corrections and its staff’s bureaucratic hurdles and severe violations of privacy have led to physical and mental harm and caused unnecessary suffering,” stated PILP Interim Executive Director Su Ming Yeh.

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project is representing Sam Doe in the case Doe v. Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al., 1:20-cv-0023 (W.D. Pa.).

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Read the press release pdf here
Case Documents:
Complaint

Berks County to pay $75,000 to settle sexual assault case brought by woman in ICE detention

January 24, 2020 | KYW Talk Radio | Cherri Gregg
"We are glad that this case was able to shine a spotlight on abuse in immigration detention" - Su Ming Yeh, Interim Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project

KYW Newsradio's Cherri Gregg spoke with Su Ming Yeh about our client E.D., the sexual abuse case, and the resulting settlement with Berks ICE Facility.

Listen below, or here on the KYW site

Berks County will pay tens of thousands of dollars to a woman who was detained in its ICE facility. The settlement came on the eve of a trial scheduled to begin today. As KYW Newsradio's Community Affairs reporter Cherri Gregg explains- the woman was sexually abused as a teenager by one of the staffers.

Woman sexually assaulted at Berks County Residential Center gets settlement from county

January 23, 2020 | Reading Eagle | David Mekeel

A woman who was sexually abused while being held at the Berks County Residential Center has reached a $75,000 settlement with Berks County.

The woman, identified in court documents only as E.D., had fled violence and sexual assaults in Honduras with her 3-year-old son and was seeking asylum in the U.S. She was 19 when she entered the country in 2014.

E.D. was sent by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to the Berks County Residential Center, which holds families while their asylum cases are decided. The facility is run by Berks County under a contract with ICE.

While at the facility, E.D. was sexually abused by Daniel Sharkey, a staff member at the facility. Sharkey, who was 40 at the time of the abuse, has been convicted of and imprisoned for institutional sexual assault.

E.D. had filed suit against Sharkey, Berks County and others involved with running the center, claiming a violation of her constitutional rights. The suit claimed that staff at the residential center failed to intervene and stop Sharkey's abuse of E.D., and retaliated against her when she reported him. Jury selection for a trial in that case was scheduled to begin Friday.

The settlement, which E.D.'s attorney's announced Thursday, means that the trial will not take place.

Su Ming Yeh, interim executive director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project and lead attorney for E.D., said she was pleased with the settlement and with saving her client from having to go through the challenges and trauma of a trial. She also said she sees the case as an affirmation for fair treatment of asylum seekers.

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Press Release: E.D. v. Sharkey. Berks County Will Pay Settlement to Woman Who was Sexually Abused by Staff Member while Detained at Berks ICE Facility

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 23, 2020

Press contact:
Rebecca Susman, Communications Manager, Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project Email: rsusman@pailp.org
Phone: 412-254-4771

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Berks County will pay a $75,000 settlement to E.D., a woman who was sexually abused by immigration detention center staff member Daniel Sharkey at the Berks County Residential Center, which Berks County operates under a contract with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE). Sharkey was ultimately convicted of institutional sexual assault.

E.D. was detained at the Berks immigration facility while seeking asylum with her three-year-old son after fleeing violence and sexual assault in Honduras. The facility is one of only three family immigration detention centers in the nation that detain both children and adults.

Sharkey, who was 40 at the time, employed classic grooming techniques, including favors, threats, and an emphasis on secrecy, to gradually coerce 19 year-old E.D. into having sex with him. Staff failed to intervene and subsequently retaliated against E.D.

“All individuals should be treated with dignity, especially those who cross our borders seeking safety and protection. Detention centers and their staff have a duty to protect people in their custody from sexual abuse, but Berks County and its staff failed to protect E.D. We are pleased with the positive resolution of this case for E.D.,” said Su Ming Yeh, Interim Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project and lead attorney for E.D.

Importantly, in July 2019 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit issued a precedential landmark opinion in favor of E.D., ruling that individuals held in immigration detention are protected by the U.S. Constitution.

E.D. is satisfied with the outcome and is excited to move forward with her life. The settlement will allow her to resume her life without the emotional labor of reliving her traumas in court.

“This case helps shine a spotlight on sexual abuse in immigration detention and the situations endured by detainees, especially women and mothers,” said Matthew Archambeault, Esquire, who supported E.D. in initially coming forward to report the sexual abuse.

Su Ming Yeh and Matthew Feldman of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, Matthew Archambeault of the Law Office of Matthew Archambeault, and Sozi Tulante, Will Sachse, and Benjamin McAnaney from Dechert LLP represented E.D. in the case E.D. v. Sharkey, 16 Civ. 2750 (E.D. Pa) before U.S. District Court Judge Edward G. Smith.

Read and download the press release pdf here
Case rulings, press releases, and case documents here