A Pennsylvania jail retaliated against inmates suspected of smoking synthetic marijuana by punishing entire cell blocks — confiscating legal paperwork, withholding necessities like toilet paper, soap and warm clothing, and cutting power and heat, inmates allege in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Top jail officials waged an escalating, monthlong campaign of collective punishment, imposing “near-total deprivation” and violating the constitutional rights of people incarcerated at Dauphin County Prison, a 1,000-person lockup outside the state capital of Harrisburg, the lawsuit says.
