Kleinhaus plans to take the jail back to court for shackling pregnant inmates with handcuffs during childbirth. "It's really important for someone who has had a hard life, who's been abused by someone in a position of power, to have seven ordinary citizens hear her testimony and say basically we believe 100 percent."īut it seems the Milwaukee County Jail will have more cases on its plate. "We consider it a very substantial award," Kleinhaus said. For it to happen five times without detection, I think, makes everyone wonder, 'What's going on with the security and supervision at that facility?'" Kleinhaus said.Ī Milwaukee jury sided with Kleinhaus' client to the tune of $6.7 million. You can't walk into it, I can't walk into it. And in a case like this where someone is raped in a jail, it's hard to understand how it occurs. "She is under the complete control of her rapist. Three of those assaults were while the woman was pregnant. "The feeling she described about that was just the shock of how many more times is this gonna happen, and what do I have to do make it stop," Kleinhaus said.Ī former Milwaukee County Jail officer assaulted Kleinhaus' client (whose identity is confidential) five times in custody. Related Story Report Says The Number Of Women In US Jails Has Increased 14-Fold A jury awarded her client a settlement who was repeatedly raped by a jail guard. Kleinhaus has been at odds with Clarke's jail on multiple occasions - most recently in a sexual assault case. "I do tend to believe that people in positions of power set the tone about what's acceptable and what's not acceptable," civil rights lawyer Theresa Kleinhaus said. In his only public statement on Thomas' death, he criticized the media for not reporting what landed Thomas in jail in the first place. The sheriff has mostly shied away from the Thomas case. Although Clarke is usually vocal on many issues, he hasn't said much about the state of his jail back home. The Milwaukee district attorney decides if anyone or no one at the jail should be charged.Īnd the person in charge of these inmates safety and security is outspoken Sheriff David Clarke. Despite the grand jury's recommendation, nothing is set in stone. "So that's the really the dumb thing is that you were punishing or teaching a lesson to someone for whom that made no sense," Koneazny said.Īfter hearing all the evidence during the inquest, the grand jury recommended charges for seven officers at Milwaukee County Jail. He told officers in the jail, 'This guy might be dying you need to check on him.' And they didn't," Mitchell said. This inmate said that he was on the ground, he was unresponsive, he was naked, he didn't have a mattress. "This inmate said, and there's surveillance video that kind of proves his story because he said that. Mitchell sat through the entire inquest process for WTMJ in Milwaukee. "If you do something wrong in the jail, you get moved to the disciplinary unit - even if you're dealing with mental health issues," WTMJ reporter Rikki Mitchell said. Then, a jury makes a recommendation on who should or shouldn't be charged but their decision isn't binding. The inquest lets the Milwaukee County district attorney question potential witnesses under oath without any actual charges being filed. Thomas' death was the subject of a full investigation called an inquest. And, somehow, people could walk by that and not try to figure out something better to do with him than to put him in a punishment cell," Koneazny said. "His behaviors was pacing, yelling and singing, talking gibberish, licking the window. Officers at the jail intentionally turned Thomas' water off to discipline him, but they never turned it back on. Koneazny has worked with the American Civil Liberties Union to monitor conditions at the jail since 2001. That everybody just seemed to be able to let it be somebody else's problem," said Milwaukee's Legal Aid Society Litigation Director Pete Koneazny. "The routineness of it was the most shocking thing. He lost over 30 pounds before he died of profound dehydration. Thomas went seven days without water held up in solitary confinement. "The man that just recently died of thirst was essentially tortured," said Christine Neumann-Ortiz of the activist group Voces de la Frontera. But none of the deaths are like that of Terrill Thomas. In a span of six months in 2016, three people in custody died at the Milwaukee County Jail - as well as a newborn baby.
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