Oklahoma would like the seven prisoners suing the state to go away.
More specifically, the state wants their lawsuit dismissed. Oklahoma argued that the prisoners failed to exhaust all their options through the grievance process as required by the 1996 Prison Litigation Reform Act, as Keaton Ross reported.
The state concedes that the men were locked in small shower stalls at the Great Plains Correctional Facility in Hinton for hours or days. That came to light when correctional officers assigned to Great Plains temporarily filed a complaint about the confinements with the Department of Corrections and asked to be moved to another prison.
“None of the petitioners were found to have submitted any formal grievance to the Great Plains Correctional Center,” attorneys Lauren Ray and Lexie Norwood wrote in the filing.
The plaintiffs claimed a hostile environment discouraged prisoners from seeking administrative relief and prison officials hindered their efforts at resolving the issue.
The Prison Litigation Reform Act was designed to slow the flow of pro se lawsuits filed by prisoners, who had a lot of time on their hands and access to a library; complaints about prison conditions are common and don’t always require litigation to resolve.
This case isn’t about the prison’s cuisine.
Oklahoma Watch reported in October that prisoners were held in the three-by-three-foot shower stalls for up to three days without regular access to restrooms, water, bedding material or hygiene products.
“Imagine the horror of having to be in that small space with your excrement,” said Richard Labarthe, one of the attorneys representing the prisoners. “It’s barbaric and not worthy of our society to pretend that it’s not bad.”
More worth reading:
Tulsa Juvenile Detention Center on Probation Again
Two former detention officers have since been arrested related to allegations of criminal behavior, including sexual and drug activity involving residents at the facility, and 30 people have filed a federal lawsuit alleging that their civil rights were violated while in custody. [Tulsa World]
Oklahoma Has Lowest Cost of Living
Research published last week shows Oklahoma has the lowest overall cost of living among the 50 states. Total annual expenditures for the average family in Oklahoma is $62,900 or 14.8% lower than the national average, according to the report from GOBankingRate. [Journal Record]
Entertainment District Vote on Hold
Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman granted a temporary restraining order last week in a hearing for a newly filed lawsuit seeking to cancel an August special election on the proposed Norman entertainment district project plan. [OU Daily]
“I’m kind of a nervous person in general. I’m socially awkward. I’m not tall and sensuous. I usually wear sweats everywhere I go. Oh, and I burp a lot.”
—Carrie Underwood
Ciao for now,
Ted Streuli
Executive Director, Oklahoma Watch
tstreuli@oklahomawatch.org
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