Attorney Monica Basche was quoted in a recent The Daily Record article that reported on a lawsuit she filed with co-counsel Allen Honick of Furman Honick on behalf of their client, Shawn Addison. Last December, three correctional officers at Jessup Correctional Institution (“JCI”) brutally beat Addison. The assault on Addison was so vicious that the right side of his face was bruised and swollen—and the swelling was so bad that his right eye was swollen shut. As a result of the assault, Addison has permanent damage to his right eye and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as a torn meniscus in his knee.
After the assault, Addison was taken to a hospital to be treated for his injuries. Upon discharge, he was transferred to Maryland Correctional Institution – Jessup (“MCI-J”), where he faced retaliation from prison officers for filing an internal complaint about the assault, including being served food contaminated with fecal matter, and he was attacked again. DPSCS also brought disciplinary charges against Addison for assaulting the correctional officers who had assaulted him, along with other charges arising out of the assault. Addison was found not guilty of assaulting the officers, and the other charges were overturned on appeal.
The defendants in the lawsuit include DPSCS; JCI’s Warden, Robert Dean; and correctional officers Chris Asangong, Desmond Ross, and Kenneth Gray. The lawsuit alleges that DPSCS failed to properly train and supervise correctional officers to ensure that assaults like the one on Addison do not happen, and failed to take disciplinary action against correctional officers’ who violate prisoners’ constitutional rights or otherwise fostered an environment that permitted those violations to occur. It also brings two claims for excessive force against the three correctional officers who assaulted Addison and a supervisory liability claim against Warden Dean for allowing the three correctional officer defendants to continue to have close contact with prisoners even though this is allegedly not the first time they have assaulted an inmate.
Monica said in a joint statement with Honick provided to The Daily Record, “DPSCS’s [Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services] ongoing failures of oversight and accountability, as highlighted by the results of last week’s audit, have caused yet another prisoner to be victimized, beaten, and permanently injured by correctional officers on the taxpayers’ dime.”
Read the full story from The Daily Record.
LEARN MORE ABOUT MONICA BASCHE
Monica
represents clients in a diverse range of cases from civil rights litigation. In addition to protecting prisoners’ rights, Monica’s practice also includes disability rights, housing discrimination, and employment discrimination. She also handles commercial litigation and business disputes, including breach of contract and business torts cases. Additionally, Monica represents blind vendors and state licensing agencies in cases involving the Randolph-Sheppard Act, a federal statute that gives blind licensed vendors priority in operating vending facilities on federal properties. Learn more about Monica here.
Founded in 1982, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, with an office in Washington, D.C. The firm is nationally recognized in a wide variety of practice areas, including complex civil and commercial litigation, civil rights, health care, family law, and criminal defense. Above all else, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a client-centered law firm that brings decades of experience and passionate, effective advocacy to your fight for justice.