On February 7, 2001, prisoners at the Wallens Ridge State Prison in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, filed this lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Connecticut Department of Corrections in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. The plaintiffs were Connecticut citizens, convicted and sentenced to the custody of the Connecticut Department of Corrections by Connecticut state courts. They were placed at Wallens Ridge State Prison (a supermax facility in Virginia) pursuant to an Interstate Corrections Compact between the State of Connecticut and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU National Prison Project and the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union, alleged that their constitutional rights had been violated by the defendant's use of excessive force against them, specifically through the use of five-point restraints and electric shock devices as summary punishment for trivial offenses.

On May 16, 2001, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut (Judge Christopher Droney) denied the plaintiffs' motion to transfer the case to the Western District of Virginia. Joslyn v. Armstrong, 2001 WL 1464780 (D.Conn. May 16, 2001). On September 27, 2001, the court (Judge Droney) adopted the parties' settlement agreement, and closed the case. The settlement is not part of the record, so we don't know the terms.

Kristen Sagar - 03/31/2006


compress summary