Jail lawsuit tossed out by judge
A lawsuit filed by prisoners at Warren County Jail asking for relief after an inmate was reportedly beaten up for passing gas has been thrown out of court.
The suit, filed by Jeffery Simmons on behalf of inmates at Warren County Jail, asked for an injunction and restraining order given recent events at the facility. Simmons, a former youth minister who is being held on charges he molested members of his youth group, claimed the county failed in its duty to provide safe and sanitary living conditions by placing a dangerous inmate in the cell located in the former chapel area of the jail.
According to the suit, officers were remiss in the allowing the dangerous inmate to remain housed in the chapel area, placing the other inmates in direct endangerment.
Specifically, the suit alleged the inmate in question beat up one fellow inmate because the inmate passed gas in his presence. The suit claims another inmate was assaulted because he asked a guard to make the allegedly dangerous inmate take a bath after the inmate had refused to bathe for 12 days.
“The defendants violated the plaintiff’s 14th Amendment liberty rights to be free from intimidation and malicious harassment,” Simmons wrote in the suit.
The lawsuit itself was dismissed by former Circuit Court Judge Charles Haston in one of his last official acts in office; however, the suit may be re-filed in federal court.