Prison staff in Pennsylvania allegedly waged a “campaign of mass torture,” according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Dec. 17. It alleges that guards outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in Dauphin County Prison, punished entire cell blocks after suspecting some inmates were smoking synthetic marijuana.
The lawsuit says that top jail officials cut power and heat. It also claims officials kept toilet paper, soap and warm clothing from prisoners during a monthslong punishment last year.
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A Dauphin County commissioner said he is “deeply disturbed” by the accusations in the lawsuit. He maintains an investigation must play out to determine the “appropriate consequences.”
The abuses described by inmates happened in the prison’s restricted housing unit, typically for prisoners who break the rules and where jail officials believed inmates were using drugs.
Court documents note that prison officials responded to the alleged violations by taking personal items and shutting off communication outside the prison to inmates. Prison workers also allegedly cut the heat when temperatures outside were below freezing, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs are reportedly looking for monetary damages on behalf of the detainees. Defendants in the lawsuits include the warden, chief deputy warden and other prison officials.
The plaintiff’s lawyers say DCP has a “widespread and well-earned reputation as a troubled facility,” noting, “more than 20 people have died in custody at the jail since 2019.”
