Lawsuit filed over cruel, unusual punishment in Oregon jail

ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — Conditions in a jail in Oregon were grim — one inmate even had another one break her arm to get out — but when Terri Carlisle was accused of hoarding her medication for a nerve disorder, it got even worse, according to Carlisle and a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court.

Carlisle says she was put as punishment into a hot, stinking cell crammed with around eight other women, with one open toilet. For six days, she was not let out. Some of the women in that cell were menstruating but were not given hygiene products, and there wasn’t enough toilet paper, Carlisle said. Medicine to relieve her peripheral neuropathy was withheld as punishment, causing sharp pains.

“We were allowed no dignity, no self-respect,” Carlisle said in an interview with The Associated Press. “There’s a difference between discipline and abuse. They need to be stopped.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon and the Criminal Justice Reform Clinic at Lewis and Clark Law School filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Eugene, saying Carlisle’s civil rights were violated under the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

“In our criminal system currently, incarceration is punishment — separation from family, community, professional circles, but it’s not the kind of nasty conditions and torture that our client experienced,” Kelly Simon, an ACLU of Oregon staff attorney, told AP in a phone interview.

A spokesman for a medical care provider named in the lawsuit said an attorney would review it. There was no immediate response from others named as defendants.

An AP investigative report last year showed that jails in America often operate independently with little to no oversight. From 1970 to 2014, the average daily number of inmates in county jails increased four-fold, to 690,000, while the number of women inmates increased 14-fold, according to the Vera Institute of Justice. Most women are jailed for low-level, nonviolent offenses.

Carlisle, who lives in Roseburg, the Douglas County seat, is an unemployed former health-care worker. Her mother died and her brother committed suicide, which she said led to her heavy drinking, resulting in three arrests for driving under the influence in a short span. She was sentenced in 2015 to six months in jail.

“I made a terrible mistake, but believe me my debt is paid,” Carlisle said. "... that doesn’t make it OK for them to take it upon themselves to treat me like I’m less than human.”

The lawsuit says the first half of Carlisle’s incarceration went without incident. She was allowed to go outside with inmate crews to do landscaping and other work.

Carlisle said she saw one inmate stomp on the arm of another woman, at her request, to break her arm and get out.

One day, Carlisle forgot to take her neuropathy medication, gabapentin with the brand name Neurontin, the lawsuit says. She left the pill behind in her cell, intending to take it in the next scheduled dosage, as her doctor had instructed. After the pill was discovered, she tried to explain the situation to deputies, but was sent to the booking cell, which doubles as disciplinary housing.

Within 36 hours, her neuropathy symptoms flared, causing constant burning and stabbing pain in her feet and toes and withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, sweating, anxiety, restless legs and difficulty sleeping, the lawsuit says. The stabbing pains caused her to lose her balance.

She pleaded for the medication, and her own doctor faxed a letter to the jail, saying she needed it, but was deprived of it for the remaining three months of her incarceration.

As described by the lawsuit, the conditions in the booking cell were grim.

“At least one woman had an open sore, but received no medical attention. Another woman was vomiting in and around the single toilet in the cell,” the lawsuit says.

Aliza Kaplan, director of the Criminal Justice Reform Clinic, said those conditions are “unacceptable” for all the women there.

Named as defendants are Douglas County; Correct Care Solutions, incorporated in Kansas and headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, which is contracted to provide medical care for the inmates; Sheriff John Hanlin; corrections Lt. Mike Root; Dr. Steven Blum, identified as the physician responsible for providing medical care to the inmates; and an unidentified nurse, a medical assistant and a corrections officer.

The lawsuit seeks punitive damages.

The county counsel, who would normally respond to a lawsuit against the county, was not immediately available for comment. The sheriff’s department did not immediately respond to a phone call or email seeking comment.

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