×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
BOP Supermax Lawsuit Claims Horrific Abuse of Mentally Ill at ADX
Loaded on Nov. 15, 2012
by Alan Prendergast
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2012, page 42
“A Clean Version of Hell” – that’s what a 2007 segment of 60 Minutes called the U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum facility in Florence, Colorado, or ADX, home to some of the world’s most notorious murderers and terrorists. But according to a grimly detailed lawsuit filed in Denver on June 18, …
Filed under:
Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement,
Failure to Treat (Mental Illness),
Suicides.
Location:
Colorado.
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- Bailing on Justice: The Dysfunctional System of Using Money to Buy Pretrial Freedom, by Tracy Velázquez
- Guantanamo Detainees Cost $800,000 Annually
- $15,700 Plus Boombox to Settle California Prisoner’s Excessive Force Claim
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Liberty for Sale: Should Ohio Prisoners be Commodities in a For-Profit Venture?, by German Lopez
- PLN Readers Flood the FCC with Letters; Campaign Fights for Prison Phone Justice, by Mel Motel
- The Other Death Sentence: More than 100,000 Americans are destined to spend their final years in prison. Can we afford it?, by James Ridgeway
- Private Prison Companies Use Political Influence to Increase Incarceration, by Matthew Clarke
- California Prison Psychologist Faked Her Own Rape
- $60,411 Attorney Fee Award in Maryland Prisoner’s Public Information Act Suit
- Hawaii AG Study Confirms Ineffectiveness of Mainland Private Prisons, by Joe Watson
- Florida Jail Abandons Postcard-Only Mail Policy, Pays Prisoners’ Attorney Fees
- Prisoner’s Coma-Inducing Latex Allergy Triggers Lawsuit, Burning Questions, by Alan Prendergast
- State Auditor Finds Flaws in Texas Criminal Justice Information System, by Matthew Clarke
- California Settles Suit with Prison Guards’ Union for $3.5 Million, Interest-Free
- $20,000 Settlement in Arkansas Jail Prisoner’s Failure to Protect Suit
- Seventh Circuit Upholds Injunction Against Wisconsin Transgender Prisoner Treatment Ban
- New York City Pays $2 Million to Settle Suit Over Death of Juvenile Killed by Other Prisoners Acting as Guards’ Enforcers
- $2,500 Settlement in Illinois Prisoner’s Telephone Disconnect Suit – After Nine Years
- Pennsylvania Guards Charged with Physical, Sexual Abuse of Prisoners
- Pennsylvania Jail Major Pleads Guilty to Beating Prisoner After Escape Attempt
- BOP Supermax Lawsuit Claims Horrific Abuse of Mentally Ill at ADX, by Alan Prendergast
- Vietnam Pardons 10,244 Prisoners but Few Dissidents, by Derek Gilna
- Nebraska Refuses to Return Execution Drug to Swiss Company
- Iowa Reconsidering Costs, Benefits of Sex Offender Supervision Law, by Joe Watson
- Los Angeles Jail Pays $161,000 Settlement for Juvenile Injured Due to Negligent Supervision
- News in Brief
More from Alan Prendergast:
- Mission Creep: Prison Telecoms Scramble to Extend Their Reach, July 13, 2022
- At the Federal Supermax, When Does Isolation Become Torture?, Sept. 2, 2018
- Hep C: The Deadliest Killer in Colorado’s Prisons is a Curable Virus, June 30, 2017
- Welcome to America, Aug. 23, 2016
- Supermax Censorship Claimed by Prison Legal News, Dec. 2, 2015
- Prisoner’s Coma-Inducing Latex Allergy Triggers Lawsuit, Burning Questions, Nov. 15, 2012
- BOP Supermax Lawsuit Claims Horrific Abuse of Mentally Ill at ADX, Nov. 15, 2012
- How Victim Rights Shaped Spending, Laws and the Future of Punishment in Colorado, March 15, 2012
- Colorado CCA Prison Uprising: New Details of Unheeded Warnings Emerge in Epic Lawsuit, Feb. 15, 2012
- Mother Questions Her Son’s “Natural” Death in Colorado CCA Prison, Feb. 15, 2012
More from these topics:
- Spike in Massachusetts Prisoner Suicides Blamed on Isolation, K-2 and Spotty Mental Healthcare, May 1, 2026. DOJ CRIPA Actions, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Confinement in Segregated Housing, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- $9.8 Million in Settlements Reached with South Carolina County and Wellpath in Gruesome Jail Death, May 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Sanitation, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Deliberate Indifference.
- New York Juvenile Detention Officials Sued for Abusing Adolescents with Solitary Confinement, May 1, 2026. Sanitation, Lockdowns, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Juvenile Prisons, Confinement in Segregated Housing.
- $2.135 Million Partial Settlement Reached in Schizophrenic Detainee’s Death from “Gross Medical Neglect” at South Carolina Jail, May 1, 2026. Prison Health Services, Failure to Treat, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Deliberate Indifference.
- Faced with Record-Breaking Jail Deaths, L.A. County Supervisors Tell Sheriff’s Department to Improve Access to Naloxone, Camera Monitoring, and Security Checks at California Jail, May 1, 2026. Drug Overdose, Overcrowding, Sanitation, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Taser Use Doubled After Grand Jury Report on Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Death, May 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Stun Guns/Tasers, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Staff Training.
- Federal Court Places Medical Care in Arizona Prisons Under Receivership, May 1, 2026. Naphcare, Systemic Medical Neglect, Injunctions, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Inadequate Health Care Facilities.
- Nearly 50 People Have Died in ICE Custody Since Trump’s Return to White House, May 1, 2026. LaSalle Management Company, Systemic Medical Neglect, Staffing, Suicides, Immigration Detention.
- $1.25 Million Paid for Special Needs Teen’s Fatal Beating in Houston Jail, May 1, 2026. Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- Monitor Says Massachusetts Prisons Will Not Meet Settlement Deadline for Mental Health Reforms, May 1, 2026. Private Prisons, DOC/BOP misconduct, Consent Decrees, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.

