Waupun prison deaths led to criminal charges. Will families win civil rights lawsuits?

Even after nine former employees at Waupun Correctional Institution were criminally charged in connection with deaths at the prison, experts say related federal lawsuits still face steep challenges.

The plaintiffs — families of three of the men who died in custody — are alleging the state of Wisconsin violated their loved one’s constitutional civil rights.

"Even if the facts are on your side and the law is on your side, there are just so many variables,” said Steven Wright, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and former attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.

Lonnie Story, a Florida-based attorney licensed in Wisconsin, is representing the families of Dean Hoffmann, Tyshun Lemons and Cameron Williams.

“I don’t know what the state wants to do now, but they really need to come to the table and start talking about these issues and remedies,” Story said.

Hoffmann died by suicide in June 2023 after prison staff failed to provide his bipolar and antidepressant medications as prescribed. Lemons died in October 2023 of an accidental overdose of acetyl fentanyl and fentanyl.

Williams also died at Waupun in October 2023. His cause of death was a rare stroke. The investigation found that in the days before his death, he begged for help and was ignored as his health quickly deteriorated.

The Dodge County District Attorney's Office has filed charges against former prison workers in the deaths of Williams and Donald Maier.

Maier, 62, died Feb. 22 from probable dehydration and malnutrition, one week after prison staff began intermittently shutting off the water to prevent him from flooding his cell. Maier's family has retained Madison-based civil rights attorney Jeff Scott Olson, who told WKOW-TV that he has filed a notice of circumstances with the state, which is typically a precursor to a lawsuit.

The family of Hoffmann filed a federal lawsuit in February, alleging his civil rights were violated in the months leading to his death. There is a filing deadline and scheduling conference in July.

Williams’ mother filed a similar suit in May, and Lemons’ sister also filed a suit earlier this month. No future filing dates have been scheduled.

Story also filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of nearly a dozen prisoners at Waupun last year, accusing the DOC of subjecting prisoners to cruel and unusual punishment during the lockdown. Earlier this month, a judge denied Story’s request for a preliminary injunction to end DOC practices alleged in the lawsuit. The next filing deadline is in August.

The DOC has declined to comment on any of the lawsuits because of the pending litigation.

TIMELINE: What happened at Waupun: Prisoner deaths, investigations, lawsuits and resignations

Why it's hard to sue a state agency and win

Prisoners themselves have tried to improve conditions behind bars through lawsuits.

But that has happened less frequently after Congress passed the Prison Litigation Reform Act in 1996.

The law required prisoners to exhaust administrative remedies, including seeking a formal review and filing internal complaints before filing a civil action. The goal was to reduce the number of lawsuits filed in an overburdened judicial system.

The act “made it very difficult for human beings held in our prisons to challenge unlawful and unconstitutional practices in civil courts,” said Mark Thomsen, a veteran civil rights lawyer in Milwaukee.

Another hurdle for prisoner lawsuits is overcoming the state’s claims of “sovereign immunity.” Nate Cade, a Milwaukee attorney who has filed similar federal civil rights lawsuits, compared the state to a “king” in such situations.

"The king has to allow itself to be sued," he said.

In the cases of the Waupun deaths, the state almost certainly will try to have the cases tossed out of court, citing its immunity, he said.

Wright, the UW-Madison professor, said it is easy for the state to rely upon the general public animosity toward serious offenders. Waupun is one of five maximum-security prisons in Wisconsin.

"If you're the plaintiffs' attorney, you would certainly demand that the state come to the table,” Wright said. “But the courts tend to be in the state's favor in many of these types of cases.”

Criminal case could help, but it's not a conviction

Of the three pending lawsuits, only one of the deaths resulted in criminal charges filed against prison staff

Three people have been charged in connection with Williams’ death. Even if they are convicted, it does not make the civil suit a “slam dunk,” Cade said.

"It's apples and oranges,” he said. "One issue is where the argument is misconduct in office. That's a different element than saying you violated someone's civil rights.”

The workers are presumed innocent under the law but if convicted of a felony, that could help the civil case if it goes to trial and those workers are called to testify, Cade said.

The ongoing criminal proceedings also could reveal more evidence that could be cited in the civil suits, Wright said.

In the criminal case involving Williams’ death, court records showed that medical passes and hourly rounds were skipped or barely met procedural requirements, no reports were written and no medical assistance was provided.

"If someone is screaming and they're not checking on him for 12 hours, that is a very good case for deliberate indifference," Cade said.

Cade said he believes the Lemons lawsuit, which questions the responsibility of the state to keep drugs out of the facility, will be the most difficult to litigate. He said he would not be surprised if it is dismissed.

"Drugs are always getting into the prison, and they get in lots of different ways," Cade said. "The fact that drugs are in there, standing alone, means nothing."

Hoffmann case involves prior knowledge of mental health diagnosis

Both Wright and Cade agree that the Hoffmann case has the strongest precedent. Hoffmann was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, had suicidal thoughts and did not receive his medication before he died by suicide.

"There is at least some argument that a couple of these officials knew he had issues,” Cade said.

Wright said the state needs to provide adequate medical care — not the best — and he said the attorney for Hoffmann's family can argue that that care was not good enough because it resulted in Hoffmann's death.

The state would make the case a "battle of experts" testifying on whether the missed medication caused the suicide, he said.

Regardless, a federal civil rights suit could take years to conclude. Story, the attorney for three of the families, called on the state to resolve the lawsuits quickly.

“Give my clients some peace of mind to let them go on with what’s left of their lives without their family members," he said.

Vanessa Swales of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

Drake Bentley can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How charges in Waupun prison deaths could affect civil rights lawsuits