Prison inmates say they are beaten, paraded around nude

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Sept. 8, 1999 | 10:39 a.m.

Four federal inmates being held in the state medium-security prison at Indian Springs filed a $500,000 civil rights lawsuit against various prison officials Tuesday claiming, among other things, that prisoners are being paraded around nude and beaten.

Inmate Terry D. Briggs Sr. alleges in the lawsuit that the Southern Desert Correctional Center "fails to meet minimum constitutional requirements" and lists more than 20 complaints.

Briggs drafted the lawsuit on behalf of himself and fellow inmates, James E. Proctor, Robert C. Jones and Alex Jefferson.

The lawsuit also alleges that correctional officers are racists, use excessive force and are indifferent when inmates file grievances.

According to the lawsuit, inmates have been forced to walk to the prison's solitary confinement unit through the prison's yard while nude and with a mailbag over their head. The mailbag prevents the inmates from seeing which correctional officers are beating them, the lawsuit states.

Other inmates have been forced to walk like ducks along the same route, the lawsuit alleges.

Named as defendants in the suit were Robert Bayer, director of the Nevada Department of Prisons, Sherman Hatcher, prison warden, and associate wardens Larry O'Halloran and Erlton Lawrence.

Hatcher declined to comment on the lawsuit, stating he had not yet seen it, and calls to Bayer were not returned.

The prison not only has inadequate bedding and medical services, but inmates are often made to eat while standing because of inadequate dining room seating, the lawsuit alleges. They must also eat within 10 minutes.

Moreover, the lawsuit alleges, the kitchens are filled with birds, rats, mice and insects. Because birds are allowed to nest in the kitchen's air handlers, they defecate in the food, the lawsuit states.

Howard Skolnik, assistant director for the Nevada Department of Prisons, declined to comment on the suit overall, stating he hadn't seen it.

"But, I can tell you two things," Skolnik said. "I've never seen anything like the (naked beatings) on my trips to that facility, and two, I eat the food and I sure hope that's not true."

The inmates also claim corrections officers punish the prisoners arbitrarily, whether it's through solitary confinement, visitation restrictions or other disciplinary actions.