Thread by @helenprejean

The U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion this morning that reversed the 5th Circuit’s finding that Texas prison guards were immune from suit for torturing an incarcerated man by forcing him to sleep on a floor covered in sewage. Trent Taylor can now proceed with his lawsuit.

In September 2013, Texas prison guards placed Trent Taylor in a cell that was covered, ceiling to floor, in “massive amounts of feces.” Taylor did not eat or drink for nearly four days, fearing that his food would be contaminated in the filthy cell.

Prison guards then moved Taylor into a freezing cold cell that did not have a toilet. There was only a clogged drain in the floor. Taylor held his bladder for over 24 hours but eventually involuntarily relieved himself. Raw sewage backed up from the drain and covered the floor.

There was no bunk in the cell and Taylor was confined without any clothes, so he was forced to sleep naked on the floor in raw sewage.

Before placing Taylor in the first feces-covered cell, a guard told Taylor that he was about to have “a long weekend.” Another guard, upon moving Taylor to the frigid cell with no toilet, said that he hoped Taylor would “f***ing freeze.”

The 5th Circuit ruled that these conditions were a violation of the 8th Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, but also reached the bizarre conclusion that a reasonable prison guard wouldn’t know that these actions were unconstitutional.

The U.S. Supreme Court summarily reversed the 5th Circuit this morning and ruled that any reasonable prison guard would know that it is unacceptable to force an incarcerated person to spend six days in these deplorable conditions.

Trent Taylor’s civil rights lawsuit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the individual guards will now proceed in federal district court. The Supreme Court case is Trent Michael Taylor v. Robert Riojas et al.

No human being deserves to be treated the way that the Texas prison system treated Trent Taylor. Unfortunately, these situations are all too common in prisons across the United States. Guards and supervisors are seldom held accountable, but this is one righteous exception.