ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nexus Services Inc. announced today the funding of a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons for their failure to provide medical treatment for an inmate hurt in their facility. The plaintiff, Mr. Edward Nellson, a prisoner at USP Florence, located in Florence, Colorado, endured a severe and excruciating spinal injury due to a fall that went undiagnosed and untreated for four years.
Over the course of two years, Mr. Nellson’s condition worsened, leading to paralysis, seizures and neurological deficits. USP Florence locked Mr. Nellson in solitary confinement without a wheelchair or walker to punish him for his inability to walk. Confined in solitary confinement for months at a time, Mr. Nellson developed suppurating calluses from being forced to crawl along the ground to get around.
The inmate finally received an MRI in 2018, which diagnosed the severe extent of his injury. The damage to his spine was now life-threatening because the facility refused to act. Despite consistently reporting horrific pain for years, Mr. Nellson was given pain medication for the first time in October 2018.
The 59-page lawsuit seeks injunctive relief and states that the defendants’ actions were nothing short of torture in violation of Mr. Nellson’s Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment. Through injunctive relief, the lawsuit hopes the court will order the Bureau of Prisons to place Mr. Nellson in a Care Level 4 facility so he can receive the required medical treatment and assistance his injuries entitle him. He’s currently in a Care Level 2 facility.
Mike Donovan, President of Nexus Services Inc., believes that this lawsuit is an important case to call out the horrific abuse that so many prisoners experience in local jails and in state and federal prisons across America. “The United States system of justice often over promises and fails to deliver at all. In this case, the Bureau of Prisons has engaged in activity, and a cover up of that activity, which can only be reasoned by most people to be criminal. Beyond criminal, The United States tortured Mr. Nellson because they believed he didn’t matter. This is why the Courts are so incredibly important to ensure jails and prisons are safe. We at Nexus are honored to stand with Mr. Nellson and work to hold accountable the wolves clothed as sheep at the Bureau of Prisons, those who covered up this torture and used their power to hurt and kill others.”
The lawsuit states that the defendants insisted that Mr. Nellson was malingering and faking his injury. This is despite Mr. Nellson continually falling in the presence of defendants, despite many of these defendants seeing Mr. Nellson on video crawling and grasping for objects to help him stand up, and despite outside physicians from reputable hospitals ordering Mr. Nellson ambulatory assistance such as a wheelchair or walker. The defendants engage in sadistic conduct by telling Mr. Nellson to “snap out of it” before locking him in solitary confinement.
“Nexus exists to shine light in the darkness and stand for people when no one else can. Mr. Nellson is a human being who has inherent worth and dignity. We can no longer as Americans pretend that we believe in principles of freedom, when we are so willing to ignore instances like these when the government becomes the criminal. We will fight to protect Mr. Nellson and ensure that the people who harmed him are held accountable,” said Mike Donovan, who added that Nexus funds cases like this all over the country and will continue to do so.
A copy of the filed lawsuit can be found at:
https://www.scribd.com/document/452924626/FEDERAL-BUREAU-OF-PRISONS-SUED-FOR-HORRIFIC-REFUSAL-TO-PROVIDE-EMERGENCY-MEDICAL-TREATMENT-TO-INMATE
Nexus Services, Inc. is a leading provider of immigrant bond securitization and of services provided to detained individuals. The organization funds Nexus Derechos Humanos Attorneys, Inc. as a part of its corporate giving to increase access to justice for disadvantaged people across the United States. http://www.nexushelps.com/
Nexus Derechos Humanos Attorneys Inc. is a civil-rights law firm funded by Nexus Services Inc. Nexus Derechos Humanos is committed to holding public officials accountable for placing money or politics above the lives of human beings, protecting due-process rights to be free from government coercion and demanding justice and enforcement of hard-won civil rights. https://www.ndhlawyers.com
