Pregnant inmate files federal suit

Friday, Jan. 9, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Korinda Martin, the inmate who became pregnant at the women's prison in North Las Vegas, is due to deliver her baby Jan. 25 and has filed a federal lawsuit against the guard who allegedly impregnated her, the state Corrections Department, Gov. Kenny Guinn and the Correction Corp. of America that operates the prison.

The suit names Randy Easter as the father. Easter was fired from the prison after the pregnancy was discovered.

According to the lawsuit, filed by Las Vegas attorney Scott Olifant, sex between Martin and Easter took place at the Southern Nevada Women's Correctional Facility. The state pays Corrections Corporation of America to run the prison.

The suit says guards hired by that company are less qualified and receive less training than the correctional officers hired at state prisons.

"The lack of equal training, qualifications and supervision resulted in workplace standards for employees that failed and continues to fail to protect inmates at SNWCF to the same degree as other prisoners of the state of Nevada from unconstitutional treatment," the suit alleges.

That led to violations of Martin's constitutional rights, the lawsuit alleges. "The act of impregnating plaintiff (Martin) was in violation of plaintiff's constitutional rights to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures secured to her under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," according to the lawsuit.

Howard Skolnik, assistant director of the department of corrections who oversees the women's prison, said Thursday that the training for guards at the women's prison in North Las Vegas was equivalent to that of correctional officers at the state prisons, except they don't get firearms instruction.

Skolnik also took exception to other aspects of Martin's suit.

In addition to asking for unspecified general, special and special damages, the suit also seeks to require the state to provide medical care to Martin and her child until the youngster is 18 years old.

The suit also calls for an injunction to prevent the prison from removing the baby from Martin when it is born.

The state has a policy of separating a newborn child from an incarcerated mother within 24 hours of the birth, Olifant said.

In this circumstance, Olifant said, the proposed separation "constitutes a deprivation of a fundamental right to raise a family, inasmuch as plaintiff is blameless" and since Martin became pregnant because of the misconduct and malfeasance of the defendants. Skolnik said that Martin took a different position originally, not wanting to keep the baby.

But whatever her wishes, the fact is that "we are not equipped to keep infants in the institution," Skolnik said. He said on the rare occasions when a prisoner gives birth, the baby is usually kept with the mother for a maximum of about six weeks.

"The ideal situation is for it to go to a family member," and if there is no family to take the baby, then it is placed with the state's child protective services, he said.

"We can't raise children in prison," he said.

The suit said Martin "could not resist the sexual demands of Randy Easter due to the inherent power and control prison guards have over prisoners in a prison environment." The suit says Martin became impregnated in March or April last year. The pregnancy was discovered in July and she was transferred to the prison in Carson City where she now confined.

Olifant said Martin is due to deliver the baby Jan. 25, and "she is doing quite well despite all the circumstances," Olifant said. State prison officials said a DNA test will be conducted when the baby is born to determine the father. And criminal charges may be filed because it is a felony for a prison staff member to have sexual relations with an inmate. The suit said that Corrections Corporation of America, which is based in Tennessee, "has or had an unconstitutional policy, practice, procedure or custom that allowed their employee Randy Easter the ability to sexually abuse plaintiff and ultimately impregnate her and infect her with genital herpes." Easter could not be reached for comment. Donna Nolan, a spokeswoman for Corrections Corporation of America, said the company had no comment on the matter.

Attorney General Brian Sandoval's office is representing the department of corrections and Guinn. A spokesman for Sandoval said, "We will vigorously defend this suit." He said the state would soon file an answer to the suit. Martin was convicted of robbery and coercion in Clark County and was sentenced in September 2001 to two to 10 years for robbery and consecutive one to four for coercion.