Our client was in prison in Florida. He’s a paraplegic. And an intermittent quadriplegic.
He needs a stent to urinate. But they didn’t give him enough stents, so he had to re-use the ones he had. That caused urinary-tract infections.
He lacks control over his bowel movements. But they didn’t put grab bars in his cell so he could move himself from his wheelchair to the toilet. So he fouled himself. And when he tried to clean himself, there was no running water in the sink.
That’s the short version. The long version is worse.
We sue for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Florida is fighting back hard. Because the problem is not just with our client. Cruel conditions for disabled prisoners are widespread in the Florida penal system. If they lose, they will have to make major improvements.
I know that some people think that a prisoner deserves anything he gets. But no prisoner deserves to spend years with preventable urinary-tract infections, unable to use the toilet, sitting in his own feces, unable to clean himself. If someone treated a dog that way, he would be arrested.
So I worked on that case today. Found some good law. And maybe, in the end, Florida will have to reckon their own cruelty.
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