For Immediate Release June 9, 2008

Contacts: 

Sarah Geraghty or Sara Totonchi
Southern Center for Human Rights
404/688-1202  
 

Civil Rights Lawsuit Brought by
Mother of Farron Barksdale

MONTGOMERY, AL-- June 9, 2008 — A civil rights lawsuit was filed today on behalf of a man with schizophrenia who died of heat-related complications while locked in a hot isolation cell at Kilby Correctional Facility (“Kilby”).  The case, Barksdale v. Holt, names the former Warden of Kilby, two doctors employed at Kilby, and other correctional personnel as Defendants.  The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama by the Southern Center for Human Rights (“SCHR”) and Huntsville attorneys Jake Watson and Herman Watson Jr.

Barksdale v. Holt is the latest in a series of legal actions in the aftermath of the unexplained death of 32-year-old Farron Barksdale at Kilby Correctional Facility.  In August 2007, Mr. Barksdale, who had schizophrenia, was transported from the Limestone County Jail (“Limestone”) to Kilby.  Prior to this date, Mr. Barksdale was in good physical health.  Just days after his arrival at Kilby, Mr. Barksdale was found comatose in his cell.  He died eight days later.  Marks and bruises were found on his body.

To date, the Alabama Department of Corrections has failed to provide Mr. Barkdale’s family or attorneys with any documentation of the circumstances involved in his untimely death.  The Department maintains that all documents regarding any incident that occurs in prison – including incidents resulting in death or serious injury to inmates – are closed to the public and not subject to the Open Records Act.   These issues are still pending in the Circuit Court of Montgomery.

 “My family and I have so many questions about how and why my son died,” states Mary Barksdale, mother of Farron Barksdale.  “Nearly every day, someone asks me what happened to him, and I still don’t have an answer.”  

Some of the facts leading up to Mr. Barksdale’s comatose state and death have been pieced together through medical records provided to his attorneys by Prison Health Services, formerly the private medical provider at Kilby.  Upon arrival at Kilby, Mr. Barksdale was prescribed an unusually large dose of antipsychotic medications under the care of Defendant, Dr. Joseph McGinn.  Three of the medications he was given are known to create heat-intolerance in the body and are distributed with warnings for caution when used in situations of extreme heat.

In early August 2007, the weather in Montgomery topped 100 degrees. Rather than taking care to ensure that Mr. Barksdale was placed in a climate-controlled environment, prison staff placed him alone in a blistering hot isolation cell.  Even after he was found “snoring and moaning” with his eyes rolling back in his head, staff failed to procure timely emergency medical care. Eventually, Mr. Barksdale was taken to the hospital.  He never regained consciousness, and died eight days later.

 “Kilby’s mishandling of Farron Barksdale’s condition highlights the prison system’s shortcomings in appropriately managing people with mental illnesses,” states Sarah Geraghty, an SCHR attorney representing the Barksdales. “His death was unnecessary and avoidable.”

View the Complaint

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