Stories

Locked in a small, dingy cell for all but 20 minutes a day, Jonathan’s mental health  deteriorated, but guards and doctors took no notice. In spite of a number of requests for medical attention, including one request complaining that the “walls are closing in,” jail and medical officials ignored Jonathan or when they did see him, claimed he was faking his symptoms.

Jonathan was seen by a psychiatrist two times during his 94 days in the jail.  First, on November 3, 2016, he was taken off of suicide watch and left in the isolation cell.  The second time, on January 18, 2017, the doctor deemed that Jonathan was “exaggerating his condition” and ordered that Jonathan was to be tapered off his antipsychotics.

Tragically, two weeks after the doctor’s orders, Jonathan hung himself in his solitary cell. The Promise of Justice Initiative found that in the four years before Jonathan’s death, 25 inmates died at the jail, 2.5 times the national average inmate death rate.

Jonathan’s mother filed a suit against the parish for improper medical and mental health treatment. The lawsuit seeks compensation, but more important to the family is the fight to shine a light on the conditions at the jail and insure others aren’t left to suffer there.

The Fair Fight Initiative supports the families of the victims of dangerous prison conditions to seek justice and reform. Through donations, we help to fund their legal cases and bring awareness to these deplorable conditions.

Jonathan needed medical treatment. Instead, he got solitary confinement and neglect. Please consider donating to the Fair Fight Initiative to help us fight for changes to inhumane and deadly conditions in our jails and prisons.

On his first day on the job, then-Interim Police Chief Mark Revenew released a report claiming Ricky initiated gunfire. Later that day, he changed his story to say that Ricky brandished a weapon, without correcting his earlier claim.

Since the case involved the deadly use of force by law enforcement, Savannah Police turned it over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). GBI immediately released a photo of a BB gun Ricky allegedly brandished toward officers.  Authorities refused, however, to release body cam video.

By failing to release the video for four months, law enforcement left Ricky’s family wondering what police had to hide and provoked national pressure on Savannah’s law enforcement to come clean.  Worse for the family still was after the release of the a photo of a BB gun 43 feet away from Ricky’s body,  coverage of the case focused solely on the Savannah police officer who was hit during the shoot-out, failing to note that he was hit by bullets, not BBs.

Ricky’s mother, Jameillah, claims Ricky was not holding a gun but was instead raising his hands in the air when police started firing. The single video, grainy and taken from a distance at an obscured angle, is the only body camera footage available from the many officers on the scene.

Lawyers associated with the Fair Fight Initiative continue to fight for immediate release of video of police shootings and abuse, in Ricky’s case and beyond.

From the police force to the GBI to the district attorney to Savannah City Government, leaders with a mandate to serve, seek justice, and represent the people chose instead to protect their interests and reputations through misleading statements, withheld evidence, protocol violations, and willful inaction.

The Fair Fight Initiative elevates cases of systemic injustice to the national spotlight. Through donations, the Fair Fight Initiative provides low- or no-cost legal representation for victims and raises awareness through advocacy.

Please consider donating to the Fair Fight Initiative to help us expose the failures of systems meant to protect the public.

Within 38 seconds of police approaching Patrick and asking his name, police yell “tase him.”

Officers tase Patrick twice and subsequently arrest him for obstruction by resisting arrest. Only then did the police uncover his identification and realize he was not who they thought he was.  Nonetheless they arrested him, taking him to the jail.

As soon as officers realize what’s happened, they start explaining that they asked for his ID and that he looks just like the suspect in question. They even appeal to neighbors to agree that Patrick looks like Clay. It would be comical if it were not offensive.

On the body camera video, they first say they asked for his ID three times, then four times, continuously pointing to their cameras as if their justification lies right there on their shoulders.

Fortunately, Patrick found legal representation that not only helped him navigate the criminal justice system but brought national attention to the unlawful actions of law enforcement. The obstruction charges were dropped and lawyers associated with the Fair Fight Initiative secured a personal apology from the chief of police and a $100,000 civil settlement.

Had his lawyers not intervened, Patrick would have violated his probation for a first-time nonviolent offense and lost his job and his admission at college.

Had Patrick found less aggressive representation or been unable to afford it, he stood to spend seven years in prison because officers didn’t follow protocol.

If that bothers you, consider donating to the Fair Fight Initiative. The Fair Fight Initiative helps level the playing field for people like Patrick through donations for legal representation and advocacy.

Please consider donating to the Fair Fight Initiative to help us bring national attention to these cases and fight for people like Patrick.

Guards placed Lamar in a jail  dorm without an initial assessment and with a reputation for being dangerous.

In a lawsuit filed by Lamar’s family, the dorm, known as Q8, was said to be understaffed. The suit also says a dangerous drug was openly peddled in the prison with the guard’s knowledge and potentially to their benefit. It’s one known to cause paranoia and psychosis—synthetic marijuana or “mojo.”

No one really knows except the jail.  Days after being placed in solitary confinement, he was found on the floor of his cell after hanging from his bed sheet on the open bars of the cell.

The Fair Fight Initiative supports the families of victims like Lamar, who pay the price of horrible conditions and treatment in prisons and jails in the Deep South. Through donations, we support families to bring litigation when they would typically give up the fight against the system that allows deaths like Lamar’s to occur.

Please consider donating to the Fair Fight Initiative to help us protect people like Lamar Johnson.

Tyrin’s case represents the worst of what happens when states refuse to adequately fund public defenders.  Although Tyrin was tortured from almost his first day in EBRPP, his murder at the hands of another detainee came after Tyrin should have been released.  Prosecutors in Louisiana have sixty (60) days to bring charges against a pretrial detainee.  La. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 701(B)(1)(a).

If Baton Rouge had a functioning public defender’s office, one whose lawyers visited their clients in jail upon being retained and filed motions for their release when the state fails to timely charge defendants, Tyrin would be alive today.

Even though in EBRPP for over 100 days, no lawyer visited Tyrin and no motions were filed to challenge the fact that no formal charges were filed.

Tyrin’s treatment in EBRPP symbolizes what happens to society’s most vulnerable in jails and prisons that are underfunded and poorly run.  Upon his admission to EBRPP on Nov. 6, 2015, Tyrin was tall—5’ 11”—and incredibly skinny.  At 129 pounds he had a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 18.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tyrin was in the 4th percentile in BMI-for-age for boys aged 17 years and 8 months old and considered underweight.  He had no serious mental health diagnosis, but within 4 days of admission, he became suicidal.

According to EBRPP documents, this is what we know about the time Tyrin spent in EBRPP:

• November 10, 2015: Within less than a week of being in EBRPP, Tyrin reported that he was “feeling suicidal.”

• November 13, 2015: Tyrin reported hearing voices, hallucinating, and told EBRPP staff that “he needs help.”

• November 17, 2015: An EBRPP deputy found Tyrin rocking back and talking to a wall in his cell, #15 in the juvenile wing.  As the deputy approached Tyrin, Tyrin began to shake. That same day, medical personnel documented that Tyrin was “very anxious” and that he was “not sleeping at all” and not eating because of attacks by other prisoners on the juvenile wing.

• November 25, 2015: Tyrin reported being sexually assaulted by another prisoner.

 • December 1, 2015: Tyrin was sprayed in the face with pepper spray by an EBRPP deputy as the deputy and 2 other guards engaged Tyrin to move him from his cell.

• December 6, 2015: Tyrin had his forearm broken by another prisoner.  It would be 5 days before Tyrin was taken to the hospital for treatment.

• January 13, 2016: Tyrin informed medical staff that he was the victim of bullying on the juvenile wing.

•January 23, 2016: Tyrin told a deputy that he wanted to kill himself.  Medical staff ordered that Tyrin be stripped of his clothes, placed in a paper gown, and placed on lockdown.

It would be a few weeks later, on February 17, 2016, that Tyrin suffered the final blow of being murdered by his cellmate, Kermitious Thomas.

According to EBRPP documents, no staff was assigned to monitor the juvenile wing to ensure prisoners on the wing were safe and other prisoners on the unit with Tyrin reported a loud and obvious fight, with no EBRPP staff intervening to protect Tyrin.

The Fair Fight Initiative supports the families of the victims of dangerous prison conditions to seek justice and reform. Through donations, we help to fund their legal cases and bring awareness to these deplorable conditions.

Tyrin needed proper legal representation. Instead, he was forced to remain in prison for longer than legally required, which led to his murder. Please consider donating to the Fair Fight Initiative to help us fight for changes to inhumane and deadly conditions in our jails and prisons.