After Positive Drug Test, Kentucky Prisoners Allegedly Forced to Choose Between Tasing or Drinking Urine
by David M. Reutter
Over more than three decades of publication, PLN has chronicled some outlandish and horrifying stories of prisoner abuse, but few can compete with the Hobson’s choice guards at Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex (EKCC) allegedly presented prisoners who failed a urinalysis. According to a civil rights complaint filed on March 12, 2024, they were forced to choose between subjecting themselves “to electrocution by taser” or “drink[ing] their urine.”
EKCC prisoners John Francis, Terry Large, Eric William, Randy McCleary, Samuel Daniel, Tywan Beaumont and Donte Harris filed their complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky against guards Justin Newsome, Boone Collins, Robert Grim and Alan Dube, along with Warden David Green. The prisoners alleged that when the guards informed them that they tested positive they offered to “throw away” the urine test—provided that the prisoners agreed to be subjected to electrocution by Taser or drink their urine.
Video evidence from the incidents, which allegedly occurred between March 12, 2023, and April 6, 2023, depicted “electric flashes of the tasers being deployed behind a curtain which partially obstructed the view,” the complaint recalled. Moreover, when a prison investigation ensued, the guards allegedly tried to cover their tracks. Newsome, Collins, and Grim “made false statements to internal investigators” about the Taser use “in an attempt to cover up torturous conduct,” the complaint averred, telling investigators that the devices were “arced” to warn the prisoners without actually being used against them. Device logs, however, “indicated that tasers were utilized against humans during the times of the conduct alleged.” The state Department of Corrections (DOC) acknowledged that its investigation resulted in guards being fired or otherwise sanctioned. “This incident was thoroughly investigated, and multiple disciplinary actions were taken including employee terminations,” said spokeswoman Lisa Lamb.
The Court dismissed official capacity claims against Defendants on September 10, 2024, since those do not permit damages. But it allowed individual capacity claims to proceed. See: Francis v. Green, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 162463 (E.D. Ky.).The case remains open, and PLN will update developments as they are available. The prisoners are represented in their suit by Lexington attorneys Joseph D. Buckles and Gregory E.J. Coulson. See: Francis v. Green, USDC (E.D. Ken.), Case No. 0:24-cv-00030.
Additional source: WDRB
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