Case 3:15-Cv-00318-BAJ-RLB Document 1 05/20/15 Page 1 of 63
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Case 3:15-cv-00318-BAJ-RLB Document 1 05/20/15 Page 1 of 63 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA JOSEPH LEWIS, JR., KENTRELL PARKER, FARRELL SAMPIER, REGINALD GEORGE, JOHN TONUBBEE, OTTO BARRERA, CLYDE CARTER, CEDRIC EVANS, EDWARD GIOVANNI, RICKY D. DAVIS, LIONEL TOLBERT, and RUFUS WHITE, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, CIVIL ACTION NO. _________ Plaintiffs, SECTION __________ v. JUDGE ___________ BURL CAIN, Warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, in his official capacity; MAGISTRATE ______________ STEPHANIE LAMARTINIERE, Assistant Warden for Health Services, in her official capacity; JAMES M. LEBLANC, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT and Corrections, in his official capacity; and THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND CORRECTIONS, Defendants. COMPLAINT STATEMENT OF CLAIM 1. The medical care provided at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola (“Angola”) falls far beneath constitutional and statutory standards. Countless prisoners have already suffered serious harm due to Defendants’ grossly deficient policies and practices, including unnecessary pain and suffering, exacerbation of existing conditions, permanent disability, disfigurement, and 1 Case 3:15-cv-00318-BAJ-RLB Document 1 05/20/15 Page 2 of 63 even death. Thousands more are placed at daily risk of suffering the same fate should they need medical care. 2. Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class are housed at Angola in the custody of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (“DOC”). As prisoners at Angola, Plaintiffs are entirely dependent on Defendants for their basic health care. However, the health care Defendants provide falls far short of minimal constitutional requirements and fails to meet prisoners’ basic health needs, leaving painful and often life-threatening conditions unaddressed or inadequately addressed. Accordingly, Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class seek declaratory and injunctive relief against the DOC and against James LeBlanc, Burl Cain, and Stephanie Lamartiniere in their official capacities, for violations of their constitutional rights under the Eighth Amendment and their statutory rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Rehabilitation Act. 3. Defendants engage in a number of systemic practices that expose all members of the Plaintiff Class to unacceptable risks to their health, including but not limited to: a. Routinely delaying evaluation, treatment, and access to specialty care; b. Declining to provide medically necessary treatments, including surgeries, medication, medical devices, physical therapy, and appropriate screening tests; c. Failing to provide and manage medication in accordance with prescriptions and medically appropriate treatment courses; d. Failing to ensure that Plaintiffs’ medical needs are addressed in their follow-up care, dietary plans, work requirements, cell conditions, and other aspects of confinement; 2 Case 3:15-cv-00318-BAJ-RLB Document 1 05/20/15 Page 3 of 63 e. Enforcing a “malingering” rule designed to punish Plaintiffs who seek treatment and discourage them from requesting medical assistance; and f. Maintaining an insufficient number of qualified medical personnel such as physicians and nurses, such that some medical tasks are performed by unqualified individuals including prisoners. 4. These medically and constitutionally unacceptable practices have produced an immeasurable amount of needless pain and suffering, exacerbating Plaintiffs’ health problems and turning treatable conditions into debilitating and disabling—or even terminal—conditions. Many Plaintiffs and class members have already suffered greatly from Defendants’ practices, as shown below, and those who have been fortunate enough to avoid serious harm to date are at constant risk. 5. As laid out below, Defendants’ practices have had devastating consequences for countless prisoners. Prisoners report horror story after horror story: a man denied medical attention four times during a stroke, leaving him blind and paralyzed; a man denied access to a specialist for four years while his throat cancer advanced; a blind man denied even a cane for 16 years. In many cases, only the spectre of legal action has spurred Defendants to provide long- delayed medical care to Plaintiffs. 6. Despite repeated requests from Plaintiffs and warnings from doctors and advocacy groups, and despite the obviousness of many of these medical urgencies and their devastating consequences, Defendants have been deliberately indifferent to the substantial risks created by their failure to provide minimally adequate health care. 3 Case 3:15-cv-00318-BAJ-RLB Document 1 05/20/15 Page 4 of 63 7. Indeed, Defendants have been aware for more than 25 years that their practices are constitutionally deficient. In 1989, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) initiated an investigation into the conditions of confinement at Angola and then sued, culminating in a consent decree regulating Angola’s medical care. Among other findings, DOJ found that Angola’s “[f]ailure to provide adequate medical and psychiatric care” deprived prisoners of their constitutional rights. DOJ specifically cited a number of practices that Angola continues to this day or reinstated as soon as the consent decree expired, including delaying the provision of necessary medical care, providing inadequate follow-up care, maintaining inadequate medical records, having untrained personnel conducting sick call and distributing medication, employing a punitive malingering rule, and understaffing of medical personnel. Defendant Cain was Warden of Angola during the latter period that the consent decree was in effect. Given Defendants’ longstanding knowledge that its practices are constitutionally deficient, together with the litany of complaints and the devastating, often tragic consequences of their medical neglect, there can be no question that Defendants have been deliberately indifferent to the shortcomings of their system of treatment. 8. Defendants’ failure to provide adequate medical treatment is also a failure to reasonably accommodate prisoners with disabilities, thereby denying those prisoners equal access to prison activities, programs, and services in contravention of federal law. Moreover, Defendants’ broader failure to accommodate individuals with disabilities in performing the tasks of daily life, as described below, also contravenes federal law. Defendants’ methods of administration have the effect of subjecting prisoners with disabilities to discrimination on the basis of their disabilities and defeat the accomplishment of the objectives of a medical care delivery system to prisoners with disabilities. 4 Case 3:15-cv-00318-BAJ-RLB Document 1 05/20/15 Page 5 of 63 9. Accordingly, Plaintiffs seek declaratory relief holding Defendants’ practices in violation of the Eighth Amendment, the ADA, and the Rehabilitation Act, and injunctive relief compelling Defendants to immediately provide Plaintiffs and the class members they represent with constitutionally adequate health care and accommodation for their disabilities. JURISDICTION AND VENUE 10. Plaintiffs bring this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 12101 et seq, and 29 U.S.C. § 794. This Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (federal question), § 1343 (civil rights), and § 2201 (Declaratory Judgment Act). 11. Venue is proper in this district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), as the events or omissions complained of occurred in this district. PARTIES A.) Defendants 12. Defendant Burl Cain is the Warden of Angola. He has held this position since 1995. In this capacity, he exercises operational control over Angola by making staffing, budget, and administrative decisions. By law, he is responsible for protecting the constitutional rights of all persons held in Angola’s custody. At all relevant times, Cain was acting under color of law and as the agent and official representative of DOC. He can be served at 17544 Tunica Trace, Angola, LA 70712. 13. Defendant Stephanie Lamartiniere is the Assistant Warden for Health Services at Angola. She has been in that position since approximately 2013. In her capacity as Assistant Warden for Health Services, she exercises operational control over the Angola Treatment Center hospital by making staffing, budget, and administrative decisions. By law, she is responsible for protecting the constitutional rights of all persons incarcerated and treated at Angola’s hospital. At all 5 Case 3:15-cv-00318-BAJ-RLB Document 1 05/20/15 Page 6 of 63 relevant times, Lamartiniere was acting under color of law and as the agent and official representative of DOC. She can be served at 17544 Tunica Trace, Angola, LA 70712. 14. Defendant James M. LeBlanc is the Secretary of Louisiana’s Department of Public Safety and Corrections (“DOC”). In his capacity as Secretary, he is responsible for the functioning and control of all programs within the Department. He formulates rules and regulations and determines policy regarding management, personnel, and total operations. He leads and supports central office and field unit staffs, which are charged with carrying out the work of the agency. By law, he is responsible for protecting the constitutional rights of all persons held in the DOC’s custody. At all relevant times, LeBlanc was acting under color of law and as the agent and official representative of DOC. He can be served at 504 Mayflower Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. 15.