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Chicago Jailers Publicly Call Detainee Death a Medical Emergency, Privately Admit Guard Brutality

Loaded on Sept. 15, 2024 published in Prison Legal News September, 2024, page 49
Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), False Statements/Perjury. Location: Illinois.

After Corey Ulmer, 41, died at Chicago’s Cook County Jail on June 21, 2024, deputies of Sheriff Tom Dart informed the detainee’s survivors that “he went to the hospital, and unfortunately he didn’t make it,” recalled Robert Robinson, the dead man’s stepfather. Three days later a Sheriff’s Department spokesman reiterated that Ulmer died of a “medical emergency.”
But just two days after that, on June 26, 2024, an internal report by the sergeant in charge at the time documented a violent confrontation, during which Ulmer became “combative” and tried to “head butt” him; after that, guards beat Ulmer and body-­slammed him before a nurse injected him with sedatives. Ulmer, who was bipolar, was sedated with his hands cuffed in front of him, according to the report by Sgt. Enrique Reyes, before the nurse was “unable to get vitals” from the detainee. Yet the following day, on June 27, 2024, Sheriff’s Dart’s spokesman still insisted that “Mr. Ulmer died after suffering a medical emergency.”
Ulmer was incarcerated for violating the terms of his release on electronic monitoring to await trial for brandishing a pocketknife at a bus stop during a bipolar episode in January 2023. His attorney in that case, Jonathan S. Goldman, recalled that Ulmer “was a nice guy in a tight spot, and I felt for him.” Jesse Guth, another attorney and former county prosecutor hired by Ulmer’s family members after his death, said they were “shocked and outraged.”
Robinson recalled that his stepson “was fine when I talked to him” two days before he died. “He wasn’t delusional or anything. I don’t know what happened.” Meanwhile, 11 staffers have been reassigned at the jail. Results of an autopsy were still pending in early August 2024.  

More from this issue:

  1. Turn Key Health Clinics: Another Private Jail Medical Provider Leaving a Trail of Death and Misery, by David Reutter
  2. Bruce Johnson 1950–2024, by Paul Wright
  3. Washington Prison Trade Training Program Boosts Employment Income Upon Release
  4. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  5. Fifth Circuit Calls Denial of Texas Prisoner’s In Forma Pauperis Request “Arbitrary or Erroneous”
  6. Florida Prisoner Whose Case Ended LWOP for Juveniles Released
  7. Missouri DOC Chief Held in Contempt of Court for Keeping Exonerated Prisoner Locked Up
  8. Texas Appeals Court Tosses Former Prisoner’s Illegal Voting Conviction
  9. Environmental Impact Statement Released for Controversial Proposed BOP Lockup in Kentucky
  10. Former Ohio Deputy Prison Warden Gets Probation for Overtime Fraud
  11. TDCJ Denied Summary Judgment In Suit by Prisoner Who Missed Grievance Deadline Because Guard’s Assault Left Him In a Coma
  12. DOJ Sues Utah DOC, Alleging Discrimination Against Transgender Prisoner
  13. First Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity for Massachusetts Officials Who Held Prisoner in Solitary for Two Years Without Hearing, by Douglas Ankney
  14. German High Court Finds Low Prisoner Wages Unconstitutional
  15. Georgia Prison Education Program Shuttered
  16. “We Killed Him”: Alabama Jailers Cut Plea Deals After Detainee Freezes to Death
  17. Former Warden Added to Suit Over Brutal Killing of Disabled Virginia Prisoner, by Douglas Ankney
  18. Former Detainee Sues “Disgusting” Atlanta Jail Where He Was Stabbed 13 Times
  19. New York City Mayor Blocks Solitary Confinement Ban After Council Overrides His Veto
  20. Solitary Confinement Prompts Lawsuit in Massachusetts, Hunger Strike in Maine
  21. NaphCare Settles One Suit At Oregon Jail, Loses Motion to Dismiss Second
  22. Remedying Wrongs, by Kenneth Alyass
  23. Ohio Guard Drives Over Prisoner
  24. Competency Evaluation Ordered for Condemned Utah Prisoner, by David Reutter
  25. Former Prisoners Can Become President, But Other Job Options Are Limited
  26. Baton Rouge Cops Indicted for Violent In-Custody Strip-Search
  27. D.C. Jail Watchdog Uncovers Alarming Solitary Confinement Practices
  28. Missouri Prisoner’s Excessive Force Claim Proceeds Against Guards After Court Excuses Missed Deadlines Under “Unavailable” Grievance Procedure, by David Reutter
  29. Multiple Abuse Allegations Against Texas Prison Guard Deemed “Unsubstantiated” by TDCJ
  30. $1.1 Million Settlement for Colorado Prisoner Stabbed by Gang Members For Testifying About Prison Murder, by David Reutter
  31. Pennsylvania Prisoner Smuggles Cellphones, Federal Prosecutor Breaches Plea Bargain
  32. BOP Cuts Ties With American Correctional Association
  33. Second Circuit: New York Prisoner’s Prior Cases Not PLRA Strikes, by David Reutter
  34. Washington Parole Board Failed to Meaningfully Apply Presumption of Release for Prisoner Sentenced to LWOP as Juvenile
  35. $700,000 Settlement in BOP Prisoner’s Death After Court Refuses to Extend Bivens, by David Reutter
  36. Telecom Firms Shift Revenue Streams in Response to Prison Phone Reforms
  37. Watchdog Faults BOP for Averaging 43 Prisoner Deaths a Year—More Than 23 by Suicide, by David Reutter
  38. Mom of Murdered California Prisoner Defeats Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit by Guard Who Posted Pics of Corpse Online, by David Reutter
  39. Tenth Circuit Affirms Former Oklahoma Jail Captain’s 46-Month Sentence For Brutalizing Detainees, by David Reutter
  40. Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals Grants Credit to Prisoner’s LWOP Sentence, by Douglas Ankney
  41. Georgia Prison Warden Fired, Seven Guards Arrested in Prisoner’s Massive Drug Operation
  42. Trial Rescheduled for Ohio Prisoner Accused of Murdering Fellow Prisoner
  43. Washington Court of Appeals: PLRA Dismissal of Prisoner’s Federal Suit Is Not Res Judicata Barring State Tort Claims
  44. Montana Prison Warden Fired for Creating Hostile Workplace
  45. Texas Prisoner’s Lawsuit Seeks Relief from Heat in Un-Air-Conditioned Prisons, by David Reutter
  46. Oklahoma Lawmakers Sue for Pardon and Parole Board Texts After Condemned Prisoner Denied Clemency
  47. Georgia Jail Detainee Released After 10-Year Wait for Trial
  48. Chicago Jailers Publicly Call Detainee Death a Medical Emergency, Privately Admit Guard Brutality
  49. Regional Jail in Kentucky Settles DOJ Complaint, Agrees to Provide Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder, by Douglas Ankney
  50. DOJ Declares Conditions at Three More Mississippi Prisons Unconstitutional, by David Reutter
  51. Second Former BOP Guard Sentenced in Smuggling Scheme at Brooklyn Lockup
  52. California Supreme Court Refuses Challenge to LWOP Sentence Imposed for Crime Committed After Age 18
  53. Missouri Sheriff Removed from Office for Using Detainee Labor on His Own Properties, by David Reutter
  54. CoreCivic’s Successful Campaign for Mass Incarceration Continues in Tennessee
  55. Nevada Supreme Court Holds That Violating Jail Phone Policy Does Not Waive Attorney-Client Privilege, by Douglas Ankney
  56. Hometown Prison Examines Its Texas Neighbors
  57. Former D.C. Guard Gets 42-Month Sentence for Assaulting Handcuffed Prisoner, by Douglas Ankney
  58. $60,000 Settlement for Kansas Prisoner’s Excessive Force Claim, $578,000 for His Attorneys, by David Reutter
  59. California Prisoner Wins Challenge to Overbroad CDCR Records Request Made Prior to Resentencing
  60. Virginia Governor’s Veto Exposes Prisoners Who Took Plea Bargains to Civil Rights Violations, by Matthew Clarke
  61. $3.4 Million Settlement for Nevada Prisoner After ‘Wait and See’ Medical Care Became ‘Deny and Delay’, by David Reutter
  62. Aryan Warriors Leader Among Three Killed in Nevada Prison Riot
  63. Montana Supreme Court Requires Sentence Credit for Time Served in Tribal Jail
  64. $2,000 Statutory Award Boosts Ohio Prisoner’s Total Over $9,000 for Denied Public Records, by David Reutter
  65. One of Eight Prisoners Now Released is a Woman, by David Reutter
  66. News in Brief

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