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Beating Of Ex Federal Prisoner And Snitch Settles For $300,000
Ex federal prisoner Mark Lang petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus in 1993 and filed subsequent tort action in 1995 for redress after prison officials put him in a cell with a psychiatric patient who severely beat him. The suit settled for $300,000 in 1997.
Lang cooperated with the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 1991 after his arrest for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and defraud the IRS. He participated in surveillance for a year. Despite his cooperation, Lang was sentenced to 18 months in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in 1992. He arrived at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Rochester in 1993 and was placed in a psychiatric cell marked "Home Alone" with a known violent prisoner on the orders of FMC Rochester staff. He was seriously beaten and head stomped for three to five minutes. Lang was not immediately treated and was allegedly blackmailed by Warden Peter Carlson to release them from liability or he would be placed into general population where he had already been threatened due to his "snitch" status. Lang brought the federal tort action under the Federal Tort Claims Act after his habeas corpus writ and his administrative remedies were denied. He alleged Eighth Amendment violation for cruel and unusual punishment and deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, and Fourteenth Amendment due process violations.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota approved the settlement in 1997. Lang received $251,695.32 of the $300,000 suit due to IRS debts. See: Lang v. United States, USDC, D. Minn., Case No. 4:95 cv 653 (Sept. 8, 1997).
Lang cooperated with the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 1991 after his arrest for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and defraud the IRS. He participated in surveillance for a year. Despite his cooperation, Lang was sentenced to 18 months in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in 1992. He arrived at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Rochester in 1993 and was placed in a psychiatric cell marked "Home Alone" with a known violent prisoner on the orders of FMC Rochester staff. He was seriously beaten and head stomped for three to five minutes. Lang was not immediately treated and was allegedly blackmailed by Warden Peter Carlson to release them from liability or he would be placed into general population where he had already been threatened due to his "snitch" status. Lang brought the federal tort action under the Federal Tort Claims Act after his habeas corpus writ and his administrative remedies were denied. He alleged Eighth Amendment violation for cruel and unusual punishment and deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, and Fourteenth Amendment due process violations.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota approved the settlement in 1997. Lang received $251,695.32 of the $300,000 suit due to IRS debts. See: Lang v. United States, USDC, D. Minn., Case No. 4:95 cv 653 (Sept. 8, 1997).
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Related legal case
Lang v. United States
| Year | 1997 |
|---|---|
| Cite | USDC, D. Minn., Case No. 4:95 cv 653 (Sept. 8, 1997) |
| Level | District Court |
| Conclusion | Settlement |
| Damages | $300,000 |
No other information is currently available.