SCI Greene inmate awarded $37,500 in civil suit
A federal jury this week decided in favor of an SCI-Greene inmate who said he had been subjected to cruel and unusual punishment after being held in solitary confinement for 50 days in a section reserved for mentally ill inmates.
Maurice Able, 43, filed suit in the Western District of Pennsylvania in 2018. Able, who is serving a life sentence for murder, also said prison staff had shown deliberate indifference by depriving him of necessities and outside recreation, as well as failing to turn over legal material to him in a timely fashion.
After more than six hours of deliberation Monday, the jury found Able had proven his claims against Candice Lackey, the unit supervisor at SCI Greene, and corrections officer Michael Beers. The jury awarded $37,500 in punitive damages against Lackey, and $1 each in nominal damages against Lackey and Beers.
The jury found Able had not proven claims against two other corrections officers, Myron Ramirez and Nicholas Rymniak.
“We’re happy to see the jury acknowledged what Mr. Able went through, and that his condition had not met the basic necessities under the Eighth Amendment,” his attorney Rachel McElroy said Thursday.
Senior Deputy Attorney General Scott Bradley, the lead defense attorney in the case, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
According to Able’s suit, on Aug. 21, 2018, after two drug dogs had failed to turn up any narcotics during a routine search, a corrections officer who was not a party to the suit came into his cell and asked him for candy, which included Nips and Frooties, the complaint said. When Able said no, the officer asked “You want to play like that?” before leaving, court paperwork indicated.
The officer later came back to Able’s cell, took to boxes of candy, and conducted a search. Able said the officer then left with a black glove, which he handed to another corrections officer.
Able claimed officers falsified the results of tests showing paper in the cell testing positive for K2 and white powder testing positive for cocaine.
Able was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of contraband, then moved into the Secure Residential Treatment Unit, a level 5 unit for mentally ill inmates, despite no record of mental illness, according to the complaint.
He remained in solitary for 50 days, despite the possession charges being dropped, Able said in the complaint.
The stress and conditions caused Able to have a mental and emotional breakdown in front of the prison psychologist, who said she had not been briefed on his issues, he said.
In his complaint, Able said he had suffered sleep deprivation by the “constant 24/7 psychotic screams and banging” by other inmates.
Able had made a verbal request for yard time, necessities such as clean clothes and access to his legal documents after six days, court documents said.
Twenty-three days after Able was placed in solitary, he asked Beers about getting his legal material. Beers then responded, “They don’t have the manpower to do it right now. The only thing I can tell you is, we’ll get to you when we can.”
Able would receive access to his legal documents eight days later, along with receipts for personal property.
On Oct. 10, 50 days after he was placed into solitary confinement, Able was released back into the general population.