Saturday, May 10, 2014

Lawsuit: Kurt Butler vs. Warden Alan Nouchi, et al; CV08-00203


         
The complaint is too long to include the whole thing, but here is the essence of it, starting with paragraph 7 from the summary section of the complaint.
         7.  Following an unlawful arrest (subject of a separate complaint) on June 7, 2006, Butler, a crime victim mistaken for a criminal (the charge was later dismissed with prejudice at the request of the Prosecutor), was incarcerated for 30 days in Maui Community Correctional Center (MCCC).  Beginning on June 19 and continuing for 13 days Butler was subjected to a heavy dose of cruel and unjustified punishments, from which he sustained long-term injury.  These punishments violated Butler's due process rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of The United States of America.
         8.  The punishments were inflicted on Butler in retaliation and punishment for his alleged suicide attempt.  During that episode Butler was never the slightest threat to anyone except himself.  Yet instead of providing him with professional mental health counseling, which he had repeatedly requested, or transferring him to a more appropriate institution, the prison staff assaulted and battered Butler without justification, then placed him in isolation (“the hole”) where he was tormented and tortured for almost two weeks.  He was never told how long he would be in isolation and this added to his anguish. 
          9.  During this time in the hole Butler was denied contact with an attorney; denied medical care for an extremely painful and potentially lethal medical emergency; denied medical care for injuries sustained in the assault by the ACOs; subjected to sleep deprivation and sensory deprivation; denied consultation with a mental health professional; denied a clean cell and kept surrounded by his own filth; denied all basic hygiene including toilet paper; and subjected to various abuses by ACOs and nurses. Each of these unjustified, punitive and cruel violations of his rights tended to aggravate his long-standing mental-emotional disorder, severe depression, which prison staff was aware of or should have been aware of.  The net effect was, and continues to be, devastating.  The punitive regimen Butler was subjected to could not have been better designed to maximize his pain and misery and to enlarge and darken the potentially deadly cloud of gloom that was already his burden.
          10.  The defendants' unlawful conduct is forbidden in their own policy and procedures manuals.  Their continuous and systematic violation of Butler's civil right to freedom from punishment without due process was not merely negligent; it was brutal and sadistic. The abuses and violations endured by Butler, which are unlawful even for death-row inmates and enemy combatants, are grossly offensive to civilized standards of dignity, humanity and decency, and have caused Butler, a misdemeanor suspect (later exonerated), long-term injury for which he deserves compensation. This Complaint contains six counts, presented below.  All the violations in all counts are of due process rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.  
Maui's future foretold:  Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon. 


Reviews, comments:
"Diabolical and outrageous. Should be banned." Linda Lingle, ex-Maui mayor, ex-Hawaii governor.
"A wet dream of vengeance for victims of government abuse." Anonymous reader.
"A prophecy too plausible to ignore but too terrible to contemplate." Anonymous.
"Maui's future? America's future?" Anonymous.
"Profound and potentially dangerous." Kirtus Reviews.