Court Orders Tier II Practices Unconstitutional

In December 2015 i forwarded you guys a letter in which i informed you all that i was battling my protracted Tier II segregation through litigation. My civil action cite is Nolley v. Nelson, et al, 5:15-CV-75-CAR. The case was filed in Macon division of the United States District Court for Middle District of Georgia circa March 2015. It can be accessed electronically at ecf.gamd.uscourts.gov.

The defendant prison officials, after the initial screening process, moved for dismissal on several grounds (see docket entry no. 22 in above referenced case). The court, however, in declining to dismiss my complaint, just recently issued an order condemning the Tier II practices as an overt violation of the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution (see docket entry no. 50, p. 29). And, judging from the court’s order, my case appears to be somewhat the “vanguard” case of cases attacking the Tier II program. I say this, chiefly, because the court did not cite circuit precedent in its assessment of my claims.

Of equal interest to the favorable court ruling is the court’s detailed layout of the general confinement conditions characteristic of the Tier II program. In any case, now that the court has explicitly held such conditions to be “unconstitutional.” I am seriously contemplating adding Governor Nathan Deal as a defendant party to my suit. I’m thinking i can base his liability on “endorsement of state-sponsored torture” theory. What was the basis of liability for California’s Governor in the Ashker v. Brown case?

It would seem as though the court’s condemnation of Tier II practices amounts to headway in our efforts to expose – and hopefully abolish – the unchecked, torturous treatment of Georgia prisoners. As always, i will be diligent to keep you updated.