Texas inmate who says he spent days in feces-coated cells can sue, court rules
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that a Texas inmate, who alleges he was left in prison cells containing human waste and sewage, is able to sue the guards at the psychiatric prison for leaving him in the unsanitary environment, the ruling document says.
Trent Michael Taylor said that correctional guards at the John T. Montford Psychiatric Facility Unit in Lubbock confined him inside two unsanitary cells in 2013.
“The first cell was covered, nearly floor to ceiling, in ‘massive amounts’ of feces’: all over the floor, the ceiling, the window, the walls and even ‘packed inside the water faucet,” according to Taylor’s claims in federal court.
Taylor said that given the conditions, he did not consume food or water in fear that it would be contaminated. Officers moved him to another cell where conditions were not any better.
“Correctional officers then moved Taylor to a second, frigidly cold cell, which was equipped with only a clogged drain in the floor to dispose of bodily wastes,” the court documents state. “Taylor held his bladder for over 24 hours, but he eventually (and involuntarily) relieved himself, causing the drain to overflow and raw sewage to spill across the floor. Because the cell lacked a bunk, and because Taylor was confined without clothing, he was left to sleep naked in sewage.”
The Supreme Court’s decision overturned the Fifth Circuit Appeals Court ruling “that the officers had qualified immunity,” which is a legal doctrine that protects public officials such as police officers from civil lawsuits, according to the Texas Tribune.
The ruling stated that “no reasonable correctional officer could have concluded that, under the extreme circumstances of this case, it was constitutionally permissible to house Taylor in such deplorably unsanitary conditions for such an extended period of time.”
The six officers — Robert Riojas, Ricardo Cortez, Stephen Hunter, Larry Davison, Shane Swaney and Joe Martinez — were represented in in the Supreme Court by the Texas attorney general’s office, according to the Tribune.
Newly confirmedJustice Amy Coney Barrett didn’t participate in the high court’s decision.
This story was originally published November 4, 2020 at 7:41 PM with the headline "Texas inmate who says he spent days in feces-coated cells can sue, court rules."