Man formerly detained in private prison sues for negligence in KS facility stabbing
A man who was stabbed while incarcerated at a now-defunct Kansas detention center is suing the private prison’s owners for operating a “dangerous, understaffed and insecure facility,” according to a recent Wyandotte County lawsuit.
Joshua Braddy was living at the Leavenworth Detention Center in 2021 when he was stabbed multiple times by three other prisoners. He alleged negligence and reckless management of the facility contributed to his injury in an amended lawsuit petition filed Monday.
The former prison, owned by one of the nation’s largest private prison operators, CoreCivic, had been embroiled in controversy before its contract with the U.S Marshal’s Office was ended in December 2021.
Hundreds of Leavenworth detainees sued the company in 2016 for illegally recording their phone calls in what became a 1.45 million dollar class action settlement. A 2017 Department of Justice audit discovered the facility was severely understaffed. In some cases, the audit said, employees who were not correctional officers were tasked with covering vital security posts, which had been left vacant.
“Despite the DOJ’s warnings... The CoreCivic Defendants kept prioritizing profit over safety,” said the recent lawsuit petition.
A series of violent events, including multiple suicides and stabbings, ensued at the prison, prompting the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and other advocacy groups to request President Joe Biden shut down the facility in a 10-page September 2021 letter.
According to Braddy’s lawsuit, the center also did not provide detainees “basic services” such as blood pressure checks, weight checks, EKGs, ear irrigations, lab draws or routine X-rays.
E.E Keenan, an attorney representing Braddy, said the lawsuit is investigating how defendants “failed to run a health care system that provided adequate healthcare,” in addition to their probe into Braddy’s assault.
“There was a cutback in the availability of basic elements of good healthcare inside the facility,” he said. “But we’re also looking at how the facility responded to the stabbing.”
Alan Sells, Stephen Lundemo and Joseph Uman, three former Leavenworth detainees, are also being sued and accused of stabbing Braddy on July 25, 2021 “at least a dozen times,” according to Keenan.
He alleges Braddy was brought to an area medical center and then transported to the University of Kansas Hospital for treatment in Kansas City, Kansas.
Monday’s petition, which was amended from the original document filed on June 6, added CoreCivic, CCA Health Services and Leavenworth administrators to the list of defendants. They are being sued for $75,000 as a preliminary amount in an effort to obtain a federal trial.
CoreCivic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
‘Absolute hell hole’
Violence at the Leavenworth Detention Center was “routine” before an executive order barred the DOJ from working with companies operating privately-run prisons, effectively ending the prison’s contract, according to reports by The Star.
One U.S District judge referred to the CoreCivic-owned center as “an absolute hell hole,” in a September 2021 sentencing hearing, said reports by the Kansas Reflector.
According to Braddy’s lawsuit, one detainee suffered life threatening injuries on Feb. 6, 2021, after being beaten by a group of other people within the prison.
The next day, a woman working as a correctional officer was stabbed after having hot water thrown on her by a prisoner. That same prisoner kicked another woman working at the center some time later, said court documents.
Weapons were discovered in prison cells, according to reports received by public defenders.
In the spring of 2021, court documents said, two detainees committed suicide. One man was allegedly discovered hanging in the shower. CoreCivic employees refused to cut him down and opted to wait for an outside medical team to arrive.
The second suicide occurred on May 21, 2021, when another person was found hanging in the shower. Employees of the prison required other prisoners to clean up the feces that had fallen into the shower following the person’s death, court documents said.
The victims and their families alleged to have warned employees of the suicidal ideations ahead of time, but said nothing was done.
Also in May 2021, staff allegedly failed to monitor an area where one detainee was stabbed by another about 17 times. Employees alleged to have lacked the training to intervene in the attack. In another instance, a detainee was allegedly raped by a correctional officer during a late night Special Operations Response Team search, court documents said.
When the incident was reported, the warden and chief of security alleged to have intimidated prisoners into staying silent.
One month later, up to eight people incarcerated within the prison were stabbed in a series of assaults. The violence appeared “so routine” that federal public defenders reported the assaults were “almost unnoteworthy.”
“Our court system is the best place for a public and impartial examination of how our nation’s correctional systems are run,” E.E Keenan, an attorney for Braddy, said.
“We’re looking forward to Mr. Braddy’s day in court.”
