PORTLAND, Maine — The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine Foundation on Tuesday filed an excessive force lawsuit in U.S. District Court against two Cumberland County Jail guards on behalf of a man who has been deported.
The complaint alleged Wilmer Moreno Recinos, 32, of El Salvador suffered “substantial long-term physical pain as well as anxiety and other psychological harms” as a result of injuries inflicted by Glenn MacDonald and Steven Pyle on Nov. 10, 2010.
The ACLU of Maine did not sue the jail or its administrator over policies or practices in place.
“All prisoners, including immigrants, deserve to be treated like human beings,” Portland attorney Jodi Nofsinger, who is cooperating counsel with the foundation, said Tuesday. “The [U.S.] Constitution protects prisoners, but that protection is only meaningful when there are sanctions for violations.”
Recinos was being held in the 72-hour unit at the jail in Portland after being arrested earlier in the day by local police for an immigration violation, according to the complaint. The alleged beating occurred about 8:40 p.m. Nov. 10, 2010, when the two guards were escorting Recinos back to his cell.
Recinos, who gave jail officials a list of allergies when he was processed into the facility, approached the guards after suffering symptoms of an allergic reaction, according to the complaint. He asked to go to the medical clinic and the guards refused.
“As they approached the door of Recino’s cell, MacDonald and Pyle pushed Recinos hard from behind, causing him to fall to his knees,” the complaint said. “Recinos was up in a protective posture on the floor with his hands covering his head, while MacDonald and Pyle punched him repeatedly. After approximately a minute of continuous punching and hitting, Pyle pulled out of can of pepper spray and sprayed it in Recino’s face from a few inches.”
MacDonald was suspended for one day over the incident, which was captured on the jail’s security system, but Pyle was not, according to the complaint.
A memorandum sent to MacDonald by Jail Administrator Francine Breton, dated Jan. 11, 2011, informing him of his suspension described Recinos as “not compliant.”
Pyle still works at the Cumberland County Jail, Sheriff Kevin J. Joyce said Tuesday. MacDonald has moved out of state.
Joyce said that the men most likely would be defended by attorney Peter Marchesi of Waterville. He will have 21 days after he receives the complaint to file an answer.
As a result of the alleged beating, Recinos spent much of his remaining months at the jail in the medical wing, according to the complaint. He continues to suffer from severe abdominal pain and difficulty eating along with anxiety, depression, sleeplessness and fear of his surroundings.
The ACLU of Maine Foundation is seeking an undisclosed amount in compensatory damages, attorney’s fees and litigation costs. The suit claims the guards committed assault and battery against Recinos and violated the federal and Maine Civil Rights Acts by beating him.
The ACLU and its affiliates have produced seven major reports on immigration detention in the last four years and have lawsuits pending over detention conditions at Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facilities in Arizona, California, Nebraska, Rhode Island and Texas, according to a press release issued Tuesday announcing the lawsuit.
“What happened to Mr. Recinos is unfortunately common in our immigration detention system,” Shenna Bellows, executive director of the ACLU of Maine Foundation, said in the press release. “Inhumane treatment of immigrants in detention is a tragic but inevitable consequence of policies that dehumanize immigrants.”
If true, a very unfortunate story. No matter how heneous the crime, acts like this do not belong in American society. We’re certainly better than that.
Shame that this illegal immigrant didn’t get served some fine Maine micro brew and some lobsters while being detained, maybe a massage, dance lessons? A million or so bucks should make things all better though…
Y’all come back now, ya heah?
I’d much rather have this man living in my state than the heartless people who seem to be defending the revolting brutality he endured.
There are a lot of people running around with badges, firearms, tazers and billy clubs who are unfortunately and unjustly ruthless criminals. In fact there was just news on CNN where five so called police men just beat to death a homeless man in California. They, unfortunately for them were caught unknowingly by a hotel video surveillance camera. Five cowards against one homeless man typical police procedure?
You believe that what happened to this man is somehow OK because he was in this country illegally? That’s a mindset that no decent human being would ever have.
What happened to Mr. Recinos was a horrific crime, and your mockery of his suffering is nothing short of evil.
Regardless of the crimes/citizenship status, we shouldn’t be the kind of nation that tolerates these kinds of happenings in our prisons.
The ACLU can be so over the top to the left- that even if they have a legitimate case most people can’t be convinced that the charges have any merit.
Defending the First Amendment is an over-the-top leftist act, is it? Um, no.
For ACLU to care about any MAN, he apparently has to be gay or an illegal
immigrant. They couldn’t care less for heterosexual men and fathers that are
abused, falsely imprisoned, and even driven to suicide. Where is ACLU to
challenge the epidemic of false accusations, prosecutions and LePage’s
unconstitutional pre-emptive imprisonment of ACCUSED men without any trial?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzfEzXY-Erg
In other words, ACLU is using the Courts and the Constitution only to
advance Cultural Marxism.
BS. You are picking and choosing. Look at all the people they have defended. KKK being one of the groups.
Did the MCLU ever consider suing their client for bilking the the citizens of the United States of America before he was deported?
Stay home and this won’t happen to you
And a merry “Sieg Heil” to you, too!
give a Mainer a little power and he always uses it the wrong way…..do you all feel so inferior that you must hurt those you have power over to feel better? I don’t know where this mindset comes from but I see it over and over again up here….I have come to call it “Maine Mean”….I have never seen a people get such pleasure from hurting others as a whole….never thought it was possible to have a whole state full of people willing to hurt anyone they perceive to be at a disadvantage. You are like hyenas….
Then Return from whence you came.The vid. quality is so poor that it only can be used to affirm what ever agenda you want to forward, couldn’t be used to prove much of anything, let alone specific violent acts. This is a publicity suite,nothing more.Some folks feel that laws should not be overlooked ,ignored, to support a narrative/agenda. They feel U.S Citizens should not be asked to follow Laws that Illegal Aliens are exempted. Feeling differently than those Folks does not make your views superior, certainly does not make you superior. But with an opening sentence like “give a Mainer a little power and he always uses it the wrong way” two things become clear. You have a large amount of disdain for Mainers and you are prone to generalizations to express your feeling of preeminence.
having been at the mercy of law enforcement with the above mindset while hospitalized and having a reaction to drugs given me by said hospital and abused by law enforcement and hospital employees in ways you would not believe(while in full net restraint) I think I have the right to feel the way I do…The cover up that ensued was perpetrated by the hospital , its employees, administrator and law enforcement. In addition once I finally figured out what was done after living with horrible flashbacks for years and complained to the appropriate authorities a campaign of harassment started that goes on to this day. Funny, law enforcement and the hospital employees don’t feel they have to follow the laws in my case even though they violated every single civil right I am entitled to. I’d love to return from whence I came darling unfortunately the economy keeps me from doing so…This state is a nightmare when it comes to civil rights for anyone whether they are here legally or not.
Wow.lol,wow.
Glad I amused you dear…just hope it never happens to you or anyone you love…like your granny or your infant….both of whom would never be able to tell if it did….like I said in the post that BDN removed: you have just proven my point about giving a Mainer a little power and watch what they do….the misery I endured at the hands of those idiots gave you joy….Maine Mean at its best…..
I’m sorry for what ever difficulties you have had. Though I’m thinking
posting this tale, unrelated to this article ,might give us some
insight. Sometimes the issue is not the folks around us,the Police,Doctors or Nurses,some times it is
us.
This was an Illegal Criminal Alien. An immigrant is in the country legally with all the legal government visas and paper work. This Illegal Alien even got free medical treatment. In El Salvador they would have just dumped him on the street and left to die.