COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Two inmates injured in a deadly South Carolina prison riot have filed lawsuits accusing state officials of negligence in failing to hire, train or monitor enough officers to maintain order in one of its institutions.
Robert S. Jackson and Jadarius K. Roberts were among 22 injured in an hourslong riot at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, about 40 miles (65 km) east of Columbia. Seven inmates were killed in the violence that officials say began in one dorm and spread to two others.
In suits filed Tuesday in Lee County, Jackson and Roberts accuse the state Department of Corrections of not having appropriate policies to keep inmates safe, including enough staff to maintain order and ensure that basic safety measures such as locking doors are in place.
FILE – This Monday, April 16, 2018 file photo shows the Lee Correctional Institution, in Bishopville, S.C. Multiple inmates were killed and others seriously injured amid fighting between prisoners inside the maximum security prison in South Carolina. South Carolina prison officials have for years blamed cellphones for contributing to inmate violence. After a bloody riot at a maximum-security prison that left seven inmates dead, they find themselves once again asking federal officials to grant waivers and change laws to let them block the signals of these contraband devices. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford, File)
Well before the riot, prisons officials were also aware that many inmates at the maximum-security prison armed themselves with homemade knives and “knew or should have known that their conscious failure to provide adequate security measures would result in unsafe conditions for the inmate population,” according to the lawsuits, obtained by The Associated Press.
The night of the riot, according to the lawsuits, inmates could move freely between prison dorms, in which there were few if any correctional officers. During the violence, lawyers for Roberts wrote, he tried to get to a safe place but couldn’t properly secure a cell door. As a result, according to the lawsuit, several inmates pushed their way in and stabbed him at least 20 times in the head, shoulder, arms and back.
The assertion about cell locks backs up previous claims from another inmate. A prisoner inside Lee during the riot previously told AP that door locks there had been broken for months, essentially giving him free reign of parts of the sprawling facility.
Attorneys for Roberts wrote that he lay bleeding on the floor for up to 45 minutes before staff finally moved him to a medical office. There, he waited another two hours before being taken to a hospital for treatment.
State police are investigating the April 15 riot, and no charges have been announced. Corrections spokesman Jeff Taillon told the AP the agency doesn’t comment on ongoing lawsuits.
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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP . Read more of her work at https://apnews.com/search/meg%20kinnard .
FILE – This April 16, 2018 file photo shows the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, S.C. Multiple inmates were killed and others seriously injured amid fighting between prisoners inside the maximum security prison in South Carolina. South Carolina prison officials have for years blamed cellphones for contributing to inmate violence. After a bloody riot at a maximum-security prison last weekend that left seven inmates dead, they find themselves once again asking federal officials to grant waivers and change laws to let them block the signals of these contraband devices. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford, File)
FILE – In this April 16, 2018, file photo, a guard tower stands above the Lee Correctional Institution, a maximum security prison in Bishopville, S.C., the morning after seven inmates were killed amid fighting among prisoners. Federal court documents obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, April 25, show that a number of South Carolina corrections employees are facing federal charges related to bribery and bringing contraband into the state’s institutions a week after the deadly riot. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford, File)
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