For 13 days, Derrick Rodgers, 21, had been in “the hole,” or 24-hour isolation, in the medium-security City Workhouse. The only time he came out was to shower in handcuffs.
“Meals come through the chuckhole,” Rodgers said. “You don’t get contact with anyone. I was lying there just thinking that I only have a couple more days, and then I get my rights back and visits.
“I was totally caught off guard.”
At 11 p.m. on May 24, he was lying on his back when he heard the door open. Someone sprinted into the cell.
It was Thaddeus Dumas, an inmate with whom he had just gotten into a fight – the reason he was in the hole. Dumas got in four or five good punches, Rodgers said, leaving him with a swollen face and a black eye.
“By the time I got up to defend myself, he had run back out and the guards closed the door,” Rodgers said.
Being in the workhouse since November, Rodgers had heard about the “workhouse gladiators,” or inmates the guards would bribe to attack other inmates in isolation for betting purposes, entertainment or punishment. A 2009 ACLU of Eastern Missouri investigation into St. Louis’ correction facilities, prepared with the assistance of The American, reported that these offenses have been going on for years.
Had another inmate not died that same night, the two guards might have gotten away with the act, said Daniel R. Brown, an attorney at Bosley and Associates who is representing Rodgers in a lawsuit against city authorities.
When jail officials were reviewing surveillance tapes to see how the inmate died, they saw two correction officers escorting Dumas to Rodgers’ cell and then returning him to his cell with a torn shirt a couple minutes later. Jail supervisors contacted the police, under orders from Director of Public Safety Eddie Roth.
In June, police arrested correction officers Elvis Howard, 32, of the 5400 block of Partridge Avenue, and Dexter Brinson, 45, of the 4900 block of Northland Place. They face charges of first-degree burglary, third-degree assault and obstructing government operations.
On Aug. 17, Rodgers, Dumas and five other former and current inmates filed a three-count federal class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri against these two officers. Also named in the lawsuit are three additional correction officers, the City of St. Louis, the St. Louis Medium Security Institution (MSI), as well as Mayor Francis G. Slay, Public Safety Director Eddie Roth and Corrections Commissioner Dale Glass.
The plaintiffs, all young African-American men, are seeking injunctive relief, along with punitive damages of $150 million. The four representing attorneys, including former mayor Freeman Bosley Jr., said more cases have surfaced since they announced the suit.
“We are already up to number seven in plaintiffs,” Bosley said. “We thought to really let people know how important the issue is and to stand up for the people everywhere, that the class action lawsuit was the best way to go.”
After the incident, Rodgers and Dumas sought legal counsel against the guards and the city. The case grew into a class-action lawsuit when Brown was speaking with local attorney Ryan Smith about Rodgers’ case in disbelief, Brown said.
It so happened that Smith was representing Dumas for the same complaint. According to the court filing, Dumas claims he was threatened and ordered to assault inmates at the workforce on more than one occasion.
“This is no different than the dog fight scandal, except now we are dealing with human lives,” said attorney Ryan Smith.
Smith and Brown also discovered that attorney Paul Sims had clients in a similar situation as well. His clients allege that they endured serious injuries, including a broken jaw, and never received medical attention.
“I have information that this has been going on for years,” Sims said. “It has become ingrained in the system. If they didn’t fight, they would get jumped on by the guards or have food taken away. They are going to take away the very things you have unless you become their attack dog.”
Roth said the correction officers’ actions were criminal, and he immediately contacted the police and circuit attorney. However, he does not see this as a systemic problem.
“We do not have evidence that the behavior that led to the arrest of the correction officers is widespread or even extends beyond them,” Roth said. “But we are eager to hear Mayor Bosley’s evidence and we are continuing to investigate.”
‘Price on his head’
Dumas is still in jail, and other inmates have warned him that correction officers have “put a price on his head,” and has been refused meals for “snitching,” the court documents state. The other plaintiffs are also still in jail.
Attorneys filed a petition to have the plaintiffs moved to another facility, but the court had not responded as of press time.
Roth said he is leaving the decision about moving the prisoners to the commissioners of corrections. Roth said he could not comment on Dumas’ claim that he is currently not receiving food, due to the lawsuit. However commenting on such an action in general, he said, “That would be improper and that is not our mode of operating. We have an obligation to provide humane treatment and provide food and health care.”
Roth added that both the Justice Center and the City Workhouse have the capacity to provide protective custody.
However, Brown said that the hole is used for protective custody purposes, and that is the main site where the “gladiator” attacks have occurred.
Roth said his department has allotted $80,000 to improve the surveillance system, so both the Justice Center and MSI can have a permanent video record of what occurs in the institutions.
“We are committed to preventing any kind of abuse of people we are confining,” Roth said.
“Oftentimes when things like this happen, officials will say, ‘Well we weren’t aware that this was even an issue,’” Brown said.
However, the ACLU’s 2009 report documented such occurrences extensively, Brown said.
“The city had previously been put on notice that this was an issue,” he said. “Hopefully now they will clean it up, and inmates won’t have to be worried about being attacked.”
