NBCDFWA man who spent two years in solitary confinement after getting arrested for DWI was awarded $22 million for suffering inhumane treatment in New Mexico's Dona Ana County Jail.Stephen Slevin was arrested in August of 2005 for driving while intoxicated, according to NBC station KOB.com. He said he never got a trial and spent the entire time languishing in solitary, even pulling his own tooth when he was denied dental care.
"'[Prison officials were] walking by me every day, watching me deteriorate," he said. "Day after day after day, they did nothing, nothing at all, to get me any help."
Slevin said he made countless requests to see a doctor to get medication for his depression, but wasn't allowed to see one until only a few weeks before his release. He also never got to see a judge.
The $22 million settlement, awarded by a federal jury on Tuesday, is one of the largest prisoner civil rights settlements in U.S. history, according to KOB.com.
"I wanted people to know that there are people at The Dona Ana County Jail that are doing things like this to people and getting away with it," Slevin, who now suffers from PTSD and believes he will have to take medication for life as a result, said. "Why they did what they did, I have no idea."
Neither the county nor Slevin's attorney returned phone calls from msnbc.com, but Slevin's attorney, Matt Coyte, told KOB.com, "I have never been with or seen a braver man who stood up to these guys for what they did to him ... [This case] It affects everybody and it's not good for this country. It's not good for Mr. Slevin for sure and it's not good for this country. It has to stop."
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/weird/Man-Held-in-Soli…
It's utterly terrifying that something like this happened in America. I don't know if there is another side to this story or what it could possibly be.
Bradley Manning called, he wants his spectacles back.
On a more serious note: Compared to how we do this in the UK:////
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_Alam
not comparing like with like, but compare the money....
It's been my observation that European countries (including the UK surprisingly) are loth to award money in cases of emotional damages, etc. like these.
ndaa
This is my nightmare; getting caught up in the justice system that is too corrupt and inefficient to realize/remedy its mistakes.
Call me crazy, and let the monkey ish fly, but I'd gladly spend 2 years in solitary for 22 mill, hell I'd do it for 1 mil
Have you ever been in a bad, depressed space, where you have had no idea of when or if it would ever stop, and had it go on for weeks/months/years at a time with no end in sight? That seems to be the perspective this guy had, so it seems to me more like he had 2 years plus the anguish of not knowing whether he would have to spent the rest of his life in there while he was in the room.
Those cops should've gotten prison time for that shit.
Yeah I have actually, and I would do it again for 1 mill
this is terrifying, and i think $22MM is way too low... He should have gotten a better lawyer
Why is everyone involved in this from the cop who arrested him (and clearly didn't follow up) to the people at the jail, prosecutor, etc not being charged and thrown in prison for a very very long time?
Damn. Thats an extremely hard core choice to make. You would sure as hell have earned it. This guy did.
Hopefully this is not the last we've heard of this. Heads better roll. I mean the man had to pull his own tooth for fuck's sake. I really am surprised that this story did not get more news coverage. Wake up America!
Quick update: [url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091784/Stephen-Slevin-solitary…] This article in the Daily Mail[/url] offers some more detail about the guy's living conditions and the county's response to the whole incident. My favorite snippet:
Edit: Can't seem to get the hyperlink tag to work on the text. Here is the URL on its own: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091784/Stephen-Slevin-solitary…
wow... i would gladly spend 2-3 years in jail if someone pays me 22 mil. what a fucking sweet deal.
cant believe ppl are saying this is a sweet deal...
^^^^^^^^^^^ WOULD HAVE HIS HAND FIRMLY PLANTED IN SOME OTHER DUDE'S POCKET IN PRISON/BE A FISH
Pretty easy to look back and say that it's a good deal. It comes down to how much your time, your freedom, and your sanity are worth to you.
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