Unlawful Restraint Methods Used in NY Juvenile Detention Centers
By injuheis on March 17, 2010
Juvenile detention centers are supposed to rehabilitate wayward youths, not harm them. However, a lawsuit recently filed against an agency that operates nine New York state juvenile detention centers is being accused of wrong doing, specifically the improper use of force and illegal methods of restraint used against detention center residents. A poughkeepsiejournal.com article discusses multiple instances where juvenile offenders were mistreated. In some of these cases, some individuals sustained physical injury as a result of negligent and unlawful care administered.
One such mistreatment involved a young man who had his arm broken, and then later had that same arm pinned behind his back as he attempted to leave a room. What’s even more problematic is that the youth’s arm was not treated by facility staff, and remained untreated until the victim’s grandmother noticed the break during a visit. In another instance of juvenile facility abuse, it was determined by the Justice Department that staff members at four different detention centers “violently and unlawfully restrained (young people) and failed to provide legally required mental health services.”
Nearly 1,600 juvenile offenders in New York are incarcerated in detention centers each year. However, just because these youths have been sentenced to detention centers does not mean that they should lose their rights in the process. Mistreatment of juvenile detention center residents is illegal, and all instances of abuse should immediately be reported to authorities. Furthermore, retaining the services of an experienced juvenile detention center injury attorney is an important step in restoring the rights of the mistreated.
If your child has been the victim of juvenile detention center abuse, particularly juvenile restraint injury, please don’t hesitate to contact Steven H. Heisler, “The Injury Lawyer,” for a free evaluation of your case. As an experienced Maryland juvenile restraint injury attorney, Steven H. Heisler will fight to ensure that your child’s rights are upheld in a court of law, and that negligent detention center employees are held accountable for their actions. Mr. Heisler and co-counsel recently obtained a $1,200,000.00 settlement for the family of a teenage boy who died from suffocation when forcibly restrained by counselors at the Youth facility he attended. We can help you with your potential juvenile detention center injury case. Call “The Injury Lawyer” today for more information regarding your legal rights and options.
