DOC faces class action lawsuit
Former inmates of Delaware Department of Corrections say they were kept in prison for days after they were scheduled for release.
Lewes resident Philip Wharton and three other plaintiffs – Joseph Roundtree, James Maddox and Lamar Correa – filed a class action lawsuit against Delaware DOC for holding prisoners for more than 12 hours after the prisoner’s sentence has ended.
According to the suit, Wharton was admitted to Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown on June 27. His release date was scheduled for July 9, but Wharton served nine addition days in jail because the DOC Central Offender Records division failed to process his release report in a timely manner.
Maddox was admitted to SCI March 11 and scheduled for release March 14. But according to the suit, Maddox was not released until March 19 – more than double his sentence.
Correa served 30 days at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna for what should have been a three-day sentence, the suit states; Roundtree was not released from Howard R. Young Correctional Institution until a full week after he was scheduled to exit.
The lawsuit names 10 other individuals who say they were over-detained in DOC facilities. Plaintiffs say they are pressing charges on behalf of all prisoners who have been over-detained, many of whom do not have the financial resources or English-speaking skills to press charges on their own.
Dover attorneys Stephen Hampton and John Grady filed the complaint Oct. 1 against DOC Commissioner Carl Danberg, Director of Central Offender Records Rebecca McBride and former Director Cathy Escherich, in U.S. District Court of Delaware. Hampton, who wrote the suit, says Danberg, McBride and Escherich are well aware of the problem, but have taken no steps to address it.
The suit asserts it is not uncommon for individuals with poor English-speaking skills and inmates with mental health illnesses to be held for days or weeks longer than their sentence requires. “It is these individuals for whom a class action is particularly appropriate, as without a class action, these individuals most likely would not have the ability or opportunity to bring a lawsuit for their over-detention,” Hampton wrote.
According to the State of Delaware website, the office of Central Offender Records is responsible for calculating sentences and release dates. According to the suit, court clerks and bail bondsmen in the state say the office denies receiving release orders for inmates or takes days to process the orders.
“The standard practice of COR employees and of all other DDOC employees who work with prisoner release records is to refuse to respond to any inquiries from inmates,” Hampton wrote. As a result, inmates have no way to obtain information if they are being over-detained, Hampton wrote.
Hampton wrote the defendants’ actions, and failure to act, were the moving force behind the continuing violations of prisoners’ Fourth, Fifth and Eighth Amendment rights.
The suit names two similar cases pending in Delaware Courts. In Nancy Dinote v. Carl Danberg, Dinote claims she was over-detained for nearly a day; in Errol Springer v. Carl Danberg, Springer claims he was over-detained for nearly three years because of dysfunction in Central Offender Records.
According to the suit, plaintiffs are entitled to punitive damages and injunctive relief, and Hampton asks for a jury trial. He also asks the court to appoint an independent monitor to supervise the records office to ensure inmates are released on or before their release dates.
In an Oct. 8 press release, House Minority Leader Greg Lavelle, R-Sharpley, and State Rep. Deborah Hudson, R-Fairthorne, said Gov. Jack Markell should hire a replacement for Corrections Commissioner Carl Danberg. “Either Mr. Danberg is complicit in this mismanagement or he has become alarmingly ineffective at recognizing and dealing with the many shortcomings of this department. It’s clear he has lost the respect and credibility he needs to lead, and his continued tenure as head of the DOC can no longer be tolerated,” Lavelle said.
“Illegally detaining someone past their release date is a waste of resources, exacerbates the problem of prison overcrowding and exposes taxpayers to potentially steep liability,” Lavelle said.
DOC Spokesman John Painter said the department could not comment on pending litigation.
