A Minnesota jail carried out “torture” by denying an inmate water and food for more than 52 hours as he remained isolated in a contaminated cell, according to a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota against Otter Tail County officials.
The suit, filed on Friday, accuses a group of eleven officers, as well as senior jail officials, of violating the rights of Ramsey Kettle, 33, a citizen of the White Earth Nation who was being held pre-trial in Otter Tail County Jail on charges that were later dropped.
“Our constitution is tested by how we treat those on the margins, with the fewest rights, when no one is looking. And this was a total failure for which Otter Tail County and its officers must be held accountable,” ACLU-MN staff attorney Catherine Ahlin-Halverson said in a statement on Tuesday. “No one – no matter what brings them to be housed in a county jail or other carceral facility – deserves to be deprived of the most basic of our human needs.”
Otter Tail County told The Independent it could not comment on pending litigation.
Upon arriving at the facility on February 9, Kettle, whom some of the officers knew from previous arrests, was put in solitary confinement as punishment for disciplinary infractions dating to an unrelated arrest. Kettle was put in segregation without getting a mental health assessment, despite a documented history of mental illness, per the suit.
The following day, as officers refused to correct a paperwork mix-up involving his medical records, Kettle began to experience “significant mental distress” and smeared feces on his door to get the attention of jail staff.
This prompted officials to avoid Kettle’s cell and withhold food and running water for days as punishment, according to the complaint.
Officers repeatedly conducted check-ins on Kettle’s status during this time and marked it “OK” in jail records, despite the cell lacking running water and being covered in contaminants, a biohazard situation that grew so severe neighboring inmates moved and correction employees wore masks to avoid the smell.
Throughout this time, the suit alleges, Kettle continued asking for food, water, and a shower, but 11 officers “ignored each and every one of Mr. Kettle’s pleas.”
Officers continued withholding food and water even after they witnessed Kettle eating his own feces and attempting to drink from a toilet, and did not alert medical or mental health providers to the signs of his apparent mental distress, according to the suit.
On February 12, Kettle was finally given food and other necessities. He became violently ill and saw medical staff, though prison officials didn’t notify them of his previous state of deprivation, according to the lawsuit.
The facility didn’t report the incident to state officials until eight days later, and downplayed the extent of the situation, describing Kettle as only missing three meals, according to the complaint. The jail also said it had engaged an outside lawfirm to investigate what happened, prompting state officials to temporarily hold off on an inspection.
A whistleblower filed a complaint about Kettle’s mistreatment later that month.
In March, the Minnesota Department of Corrections released a report finding that jail staff refused to give the inmate food and water for over two days and refused to give food until he cleaned up his cell.
The department temporarily sanctioned the jail and downgraded its license, pending reforms. with the jail regained its license in April.
