Lawyer claims poor health care conditions and negligence in prison system by DOC

DELAWARE – Ever since the James T. Vaughn uprising allegations of abuse and torture, plus poor conditions have come to light and we’re learning more about these accusations.

Attorney Stephen Hampton sent out a report. He represents over 100 inmates in a lawsuit alleging abuse and torture from correctional officers before and after the Vaughn riot.

These are all allegations and the report says in the 22 months since the riot, physical and verbal abuse has been less frequent but still happens on a regular basis. He says Commissioner Perry Phelps and Governor John Carney have not taken steps to stop the violence or create an investigation.

But the report also says that Commissioner Phelps and Governor Carney should know that inmates are dying and suffering due to a lack of healthcare.

“They’re not being fed properly, they’re being pretty much held in solidarity confinement, things like that that are very troubling to why these people who are witnesses, who not charged with any additional crimes are being treated this way,” Hampton tells us.

All of these allegations say that current conditions in the prison systems are poor and many potential witnesses of the criminal Vaughn trials are being targeted. It alleges that inmates are dying and suffering due to lack of healthcare and nutrition and the DOC is not doing anything about it.

But Correctional Officer Union President Geoff Klopp tells 47 ABC inmates receive better medical care than most of the citizens in the state. “If somebody was truly hurt CMS would’ve reported it and the reports would’ve been written and the DOC would’ve taken the appropriate actions,” Klopp tells us.

But Hampton says otherwise. For one example in the report, he highlights inmate Kelly Gibbs. Gibbs was awaiting trial on charges including murder for the fatal riot and pled guilty to lessor charges right before Thanksgiving. But days after, he committed suicide. According to the DOC’s procedure manual, inmates have a heightened risk of suicide in the days right after taking a plea. “This person should’ve been assessed for suicide and should have been watching that this wasn’t committing suicide because there is at least three things that were increasing his risk of suicide,” Hampton tells us.

For another example, he talks about inmate Luis Cabrera, who died of a perforated ulcer. He says this could’ve been avoided if the CO’s acted faster.

Hampton is calling upon the DOC for some accountability, as Klopp continues to defend his officers. Klopp tells us, “To have these egregious allegations against the hard working men and women that are correctional officers in Delaware is shameful partially on these attorney’s to bring this nonsense out.”

Governor John Carney’s communications director gave us this statement:

“Mr. Hampton has filed a lawsuit against the state and clearly has an interest in litigating that case in the press. We don’t think that’s appropriate. As we’ve said all along, Governor Carney takes any allegations of abuse seriously and any suggestion otherwise is false. Because the matter is now in the courts, there will be no further comment at this time.”

The Department of Corrections also denied any comment due to pending and ongoing litigation.