PJI Concludes Lewis v. Cain “Remedy Hearing”
A federal judge is poised to decide what must be done to fix the cruel and unusual punishment caused by Angola’s medical system.
New Orleans, LA – Today the chief federal judge in the Middle District of Louisiana concluded a 10-day hearing into how to improve medical care at Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola). The prison—an 18,000-acre prison farm larger than the island of Manhattan—is the subject the 4,300-person class action lawsuit, Lewis v. Cain.
This hearing follows a March 2021 ruling by Judge Shelly K. Dick, in which the court determined the medical care at Angola is constitutionally inadequate, and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act. The class—made up of every person at the prison—is represented by the Promise of Justice Initiative (PJI), along with Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, Disability Rights Louisiana, the ACLU of Louisiana, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and attorney Jeff Dubner of Democracy Forward.
During the remedy phase of the trial, attorneys presented arguments about the specific changes the prison officials and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections must make to improve Angola’s inhumane medical system and deliver constitutionally adequate care to people incarcerated there. PJI attorneys and co-counsel argued that significant improvements must be made to staffing policies, systems and organization, physical barriers to care, the sick call process, leadership and administration, emergency care, infirmary/inpatient care, clinical care, specialty care, and ADA compliance. During opening arguments, Mercedes Montagnes, PJI Executive Director, argued that people incarcerated at Angola are receiving the “exact same pattern of grossly inadequate care” the organization saw when it filed the lawsuit in 2015.
Client Testimony
During the remedy phase trial, several class members presented testimony about Angola’s lack of improvement in medical care.
Charles Butler, age: 72
“I would like to see [Angola] inform the prisoners of their medical conditions, of their medical complaints, and just care about the prisoners' conditions.”
Mr. Charles Butler, a trustee, GED tutor, and lead librarian at Angola, testified to the trouble he and other incarcerated people have had in obtaining medical care. Mr. Butler suffers from chest pains, shortness of breath, lower GI tract problems, and fainting spells. While Mr. Butler has occasionally been seen and tested for his medical conditions while incarcerated, he does not have access to his medical records, and the prison health care providers never informed him of his tests results and diagnoses. For example, Mr. Butler’s diverticulitis diagnosis from a 2019 colonoscopy was revealed to him for the first time during his cross examination at the remedy trial on June 13, 2022.
"I agreed to testify once again because from my observations and personal experiences the adequacy of the medical treatment of the prisoners has not been corrected," Mr. Butler testified. “I would like to see [Angola] inform the prisoners of their medical conditions, of their medical complaints, and just care about the prisoners' conditions. The average prisoner is elderly, but no one explains their complaints. They do not keep them apprised of test results."
In describing his overall experience accessing care, Mr. Butler told the court, "I have to really fight to get seen for my medical ailments." On a scale from 1 to 10, he ranked the medical care at Angola a 1, the lowest possible rating. He explained, "I will give it that rating because of my own personal experiences, the compassion, the care and in many cases the competency is not there. The medical staff at [Angola] prefers not to keep you informed of your conditions."
Dennis Mischler, age: 70
“I would like to see the – the medical staff [be] more responsible, more approachable, to visit us more, to . . . be available to us more”
Dennis Mischler, a 70 year old who has been incarcerated at Angola since 2018, also testified about the inhumane medical care at Angola. Mr. Mischler is a wheelchair user, has had multiple strokes, and suffers from diabetes, skin cancer, urinary issues, and back problems. In addition to being confined to a wheelchair, Mr. Mischler’s hands, legs, ankles, and waist were shackled using “Black Box” restraints when he first arrived to testify. Mr. Mischler cringed in pain until the restraints were finally removed.
Mr. Mischler testified that he has serious concerns about security personnel’s inability to properly administer his diabetes treatment. “I have a great deal of concern for security giving me insulin,” Mr. Mischler told the court. “They are not medical people and they are not really qualified. They don't know anything about my condition, they probably don't know anything about what my medication is used for, needed for.” Mr. Mischler also testified that the blood sugar testing equipment provided by Angola doesn’t work correctly “probably at least once or twice every week or two.”
While incarcerated at Angola, Mr. Mischler has faced wheelchair accessibility issues including inability to access specific areas of Angola and inadequate wheelchair ramps. Mr. Mischler has also fallen out of his wheelchair because of the lack of accessibility at Angola. “I have skin cancer so I can't be exposed to sun that long so I was [outside] for about an hour and so finally I banged a couple of times on the door to get someone's attention for it but they wouldn't unlock the door…” Mr. Mischler then tried to move to the side of the building where he could “get in the shade.” While doing this, he fell out of his wheelchair because of an incomplete medical ramp. “They didn't have the railings on [the medical ramp] yet and so I was going down that ramp and when I got down to the end I flipped over and landed on my back.” Mr. Mischler told the court.
When asked what he would like to see changed about the medical care at Angola, Mr. Mischler said: “I would like to see the – the medical staff [be] more responsible, more approachable, to visit us more, to . . . be available to us more”
JeanPaul Creppel, age: 44
“I've endured a lot of pain and irritation in the last three years and I really would not wish that on my worst enemy and I think that a change needs to be done here and it's -- it's really ridiculous and I hope that my testimony will help that… I hope somebody in the future… won't have to go through what I went through.”
JeanPaul Creppel has been incarcerated at Angola for the past six years. A serious neck injury in 2019 led to a 3 week hospitalization and left Mr. Creppel confined to a wheelchair. According to Mr. Creppel, when he first sustained the injury, EMTs were “rough with [him]” even though he told them he was “in a lot of pain.” When he told them about the pain he was in, Mr. Creppel says that the EMT, “looked at her partner and said that ‘I think I've seen enough he seems fine to me’ and they left.”
Mr. Creppel on one occasion refused a trip to UMC because Angola staff refused to give him a catheter for travel to the hospital. “I told them that I couldn't go because I would be peeing on myself all the time and I would be in restraints and trying to hold [it to] the urinal,” Mr. Creppel testified.
Mr. Creppel has experienced chronic pain as a result of his neck injury. “Honestly, it's -- it's been -- it's been a long three years,” Mr. Creppel told the court. “I've endured a lot of pain and irritation in the last three years and I really would not wish that on my worst enemy and I think that a change needs to be done here and it's -- it's really ridiculous and I hope that my testimony will help that… I hope somebody in the future… won't have to go through what I went through.”
Looking Forward
“Medical care at Angola has been grossly inadequate for decades. We’re hopeful that changes will be made to positively impact the thousands of people incarcerated at Angola prisons, who rely on the Department of Corrections for healthcare and ultimately survival,” said Mercedes Montagnes, Executive Director of the Promise of Justice Initiative. “Incarceration shouldn’t be a death sentence. The concrete changes we argued in favor of during the remedy phase could save the lives of thousands of our incarcerated family, friends, and community members.”
“The Lewis v. Cain case gives an opportunity for the DOC to correct decades of inadequate health care and mismanagement of health systems,” Said Nishi Kumar, PJI’s Director of Civil Litigation. “Over the course of the remedy phase we provided the DOC with actionable steps that if implemented could positively change the lives of sick and injured incarcerated people at Angola, who currently have no access to adequate health care. Our clients and their loved ones deserve better than this.”
Contact:
Nishi Kumar
nkumar@defendla.org
The Promise of Justice Initiative
(504) 529-5955