Man wins settlement for abuse while being detained in the Socorro County Detention Center
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SOCORRO, New Mexico (KOAT) — Socorro County Detention Center is being accused of abusing an inmate who was held in solitary confinement.
Steven Allen, director of the New Mexico Prison and Jail Project, said his client, who suffers from mental health issues, was put in horrible conditions while being detained.
“They saw that he was having a psychotic breakdown, essentially, and they didn’t want to deal with it. The county didn’t have the resources. They didn’t have the system in place to give him the help he needed,” said Allen.
According to the complaint documents, Jessie Chavez, his client, has had mental health issues since he was young. In 2022, he was arrested for missing a court appearance. Allen said that, at the jail, he was placed in solitary confinement, often in a cell with no toilet or running water.
“They can’t be shoveled away into some dark corner. They can’t be put into solitary confinement and forgotten about. But that’s what happened with Jessie,” said Allen. “He received no medical care. He received no mental health care while he was at the jail. And he just deteriorated. As a person, you can’t treat people like that without confronting our constitution, which gives people who are incarcerated certain rights.”
Allen said this treatment continued in 2022 and 2023 on separate occasions. Court documents also said at one point, Chavez was living in his own filth, including his own feces, for 11 days.
“One of the first things that should happen when anyone is booked into a jail or a prison is some sort of assessment about what their medical needs are and their mental health needs. That’s a requirement,” Allen said. “He’s a good member of our community here in New Mexico. Unfortunately, you know, the mistreatment and abuse he received in the jail was painful for him, and it had a damaging effect on him.”
The Socorro County Board of County Commissioners, among other defendants in the case, settled for $2 million.
The Socorro County manager sent us a statement about the lawsuit:
“Although we do not comment on litigation, the County disagrees with statements made by Plaintiff’s Counsel and the allegations in the complaint. The County continues to implement additional standards in the facility to improve the quality of care… We, like every other entity in New Mexico and especially rural New Mexico, strive to address our community’s need for mental healthcare in an environment of extremely limited resources.”
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