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New York Assault and Medical Case Settled for $5,000

On August 28, 2001, New York state prison officials agreed to pay $5,000.00 to settle a prisoner's lawsuit that he was beaten by prison guards and then denied medical care. In 1993, prisoner Easton Beckford, who is also wheelchair bound, was attacked and beaten by guards at the Shawangunk Correctional Facility. He was then denied medical treatment for his injuries. When Beckford requested a shower, guards threw urine and water on him.

Beckford filed suit in 1996 claiming that this treatment violated his Eighth amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. The district court partially denied the defendants' motion to dismiss the case, after which the defendants agreed to settle the case. The defendants denied all wrongdoing and paid Beckford $5,000.00 in exchange for dismissing the suit. Beckford, a successful pro se litigant who has won several other cases, represented himself pro se in this lawsuit. See: Beckford v. Mann , USDC NDNY, Case No. 96-CV-743NAM/RWS.

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Related legal case

Beckford v. Mann