BUNKER HILL — Five more inmates at the Miami Correctional Facility have filed lawsuits against two Miami Correctional Facility employees.
In July, The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed lawsuits on behalf of six inmates.
All 11 lawsuits name Warden William Hyatte and Deputy Warden George Payne Jr as defendants.
The lawsuits allege inmates endured cruel and unusual punishment and some lived in restrictive housing cells with broken windows or lights.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Kenneth Duckworth says Duckworth's cell was covered in sewage water for a week that was ankle deep and he was not given adequate supplies to clean it up.
"[Duckworth] had to rip open his mattress to try to mop up the water. He was charged for destroying his mattress," the lawsuit read.
Duckworth filed grievances about the sewage water and other issues, including not having light, but did not get a response according to the lawsuit.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of Mustafa Nar says Nar lived in a cell with broken glass and feces for months in 2020. The only window in the cell was obstructed by a sheet of metal and the only light in the cell was broken.
"Mr. Nur became extremely distraught and disoriented in the constant darkness ... to this day Mr. Nur still has nightmares and panic attacks because of his experiences in the dark cell," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit states Nur filed grievances on August 20, 2020 and September 20, 2020 after he never got a response to the first one. He was moved to a different cell on October 5, 2020 and got a response to his second grievance on October 27, 2020.
The response said Nur was placed in a cell with no lights "due to prior destruction from other offenders breaking out the light fixtures and no other cell available when he arrived to the administrative restrictive unit for an investigation ... Offender Nur is being removed for this cell he currently occupies and placed in a cell with a working light as soon as another offender is moved off of the unit today 10-5-20”
It also said someone identified as Mr. Cooper was looking at replacing all the light fixtures.
WRTV will continue to follow this story.
