Scenes of Prison
17. Something They Don't Tell You in the Interview
A bout nine months into my first year of employment, on a bright spring morning, I received a call directing me to report to the receptionist who worked at the front entrance. When I appeared, she motioned to a man sitting in the waiting area, and as I approached, he rose to his feet, and said “James Larsen?”
“Yes,” I said. “What can I do for you?”
He extended his right hand which held an envelope, and he said “You can take this.”
When I had taken the envelope, his task was completed. He said nothing more and turned and walked out of the building.
I turned the envelope over in my hands, and I opened it. It was a summons. I had been “served.” I was being sued, but by whom? I looked more closely. I was being sued by an inmate!
I returned to the receptionist clutching the folded paper and envelope in my hand. The look on my face revealed the swirling emotions roiling in my gut. When I told her what it was, she didn’t seem surprised at all. She motioned toward the door into the administrative offices and said “Give that to Mister Smith (an assistant warden). He’ll tell you what to do.”
Sued! By an inmate! I didn’t even know that was possible, but the receptionist knew. It wasn’t even very unusual, and the Department had a well-practiced procedure to follow in response.
I found Assistant Warden Smith’s office, handed him the summons, and listened as he explained what I now faced.
If you tour a prison, our prison, any prison in the country, he explained, you’ll be shown an inmate library. Tucked away in a corner of the library, you’ll see shelves of legal books. It’s a legal library, and at our legal library, you’ll likely see a studious inmate sitting at a table, pen in hand, hard at work on papers spread out in front of him. This would be our legal aide.
The legal aide is a bright, middle-aged inmate, who is on our payroll. His job is to help inmates with any legal matters they wish to (or need to) pursue. Legal libraries and legal aides exist because of past court rulings mandating them to insure that inmates have unfettered access to the courts.
“Unfortunately,” he continued, “these legal aides are skilled at finding ways to enable inmates to strike back at any staff member who they believe has wronged them. Inmate Jake Jones, the plaintiff in this action, is someone who believes he has been harmed by you, so he has sued you. What can you tell me about this inmate?”
I told him what I knew.
Jake Jones had been a member of one of my counseling groups. I led four groups, but Jake’s attendance was poor. Spotty attendance was frustrating. Other group members depended upon him and the rest of the group to contribute to the group counseling process for their own growth, and truant inmates also prevented other inmates on the waiting list from joining a group. After a few warnings, I had discharged Jake from the program and replaced him.
It was this involuntary discharge from the program that had done all the damage. Because of it, his caseworker had modified his recommendation to the Parole Board about Jake, and Jake would now miss an opportunity to apply for a parole. Jake was surprised and disappointed, and in Jake’s mind, I was one evil person. I had “messed with his time,” and I needed to be punished.
In our Department, we have an attorney employed solely to represent the Department and its employees in legal matters involving our work. He would represent me, Mister Smith said, and I could feel encouraged by the poor record of success that inmates have had in the past in suits brought against staff for carrying out their normal duties.
Weeks passed. I had spoken with my attorney and repeated the explanation I had given Mister Smith. Then I waited.
In most cases, suits are dismissed without going to court, but one day I learned that in my case, the judge decided to conduct a hearing, so bright and early one morning a few weeks later, we all piled into a state van and made our way to the local district court.
Jake sat at the plaintiff’s table. I sat with my attorney where defendants usually sit. Before very long, Jake called me to the stand. Now, I would be the defendant, and I would face questioning by an inmate! For Jake, this was pretty exciting stuff. He struggled to contain his nerves, and I remember little of what he said. Next, it was my attorney’s turn to question me.
“Explain your actions concerning this involuntary discharge from the Chemical Dependency group counseling program you directed,” he asked. I responded by explaining my program and the rules I expected inmates to follow including regular attendance.
When my attorney had completed his questioning, Jake took a turn to ask me further questions, and at one point, he held up a piece of paper which he had received from me. He charged that I had dismissed him from the counseling program without warning him of the danger he faced if his poor attendance didn’t improve, and he was discharged from the program.
“On the contrary,” I said. “I not only warned you, but you’re holding one of my warnings in your hand right now.”
Jake’s fingers opened instantly, and the piece of paper he had been holding dropped gently onto the table in front of him. Jake looked down at the paper, unsure how to proceed. The judge knew what to do.
We were excused while he deliberated. He left the courtroom, but he wasn’t gone very long. When he returned, he spoke for a few minutes, and soon we were all on our way back to the prison. Jake’s suit had been dismissed.
I was lucky. I had been sued for carrying out an assigned duty and following proper procedures as I did so. If this had not been true, the Department’s attorney would have declined to represent me. I would have had to retain my own attorney, and I could have lost. If I’d lost, the court could have assigned damages that I would have had to pay. Me, an employee, forced to pay damages to an inmate!
Goodness!! They certainly didn’t mention any of that in the hiring process.
Soon after this episode, a supervisor of mine began to worry that he might be sued. He worried that he could lose his house. He’d done nothing to make anyone mad. He hadn’t broken any rules, but the added stress of worrying about being sued by an inmate was more than he wanted to manage, and he found employment somewhere else.
Discussion
- Do some research on local jail settings. What is their experience with lawsuits initiated by prisoners?
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