Lawsuit filed against Sussex Correctional Institution for violent attacks by officers

GEORGETOWN, Del. – Two men have filed a lawsuit against Sussex Correctional Institution regarding violent abuse.

We’re told that William Davis and Isaac Montague filed the complaint in the federal District Court of Delaware on Friday, outlining two separate but equally egregious attacks on people living at SCI by DOC employees, as well as the lack of action taken by leadership at SCI. The lawsuit states that the attacks are violations of the plaintiffs’ right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, a protection guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

According to the lawsuit, in September 2021, several SCI officers brutally attacked Isaac, completely unprovoked. It alleges that three officers led the attack while other officers watched, and even videotaped, the attack. The victim was placed in solitary confinement without adequate medical care for three weeks after the incident.

A separate attack allegedly took place the following month, according to the second plaintiff in the complaint, William Davis. Davis says he was held at SCI despite the fact that his release from the facility had been Court ordered. He states that an SCI officer, the same one who initiated the attack the month prior, began beating him after Davis unknowingly answered a question incorrectly.

The officer accused of initiating both attacks is Kirk Neal, who is listed as a defendant in the complaint, along with at least six other officers, SCI’s Deputy Warden, Truman Mears, and SCI’s Warden, Jon Beck. The complaint states that Deputy Warden Mears and Warden Beck both knew about the attack in September, had access to the video footage, and chose to do nothing about it.

To read the full complaint, click here.