Several inmates at an Oklahoma prison say they were locked in filthy shower stalls, some as small as 2 feet square, for days on end. In a lawsuit filed last week, the inmates say this treatment caused “severe physical and emotional suffering” and was a clear violation of their Eighth Amendment rights.
According to the indictment, staff at Great Plains Correctional Center confined several inmates in small shower stalls for long periods without access to basic amenities such as adequate food and water. Most were placed in 3-foot-square shower stalls, although at least one was confined to an even smaller space. The periods of confinement listed in the lawsuit ranged from 24 hours to four days.
The lawsuit describes the harrowing conditions of inmates held in shower stalls. They claim they were placed in stalls filled with human feces and deprived of the ability to go to the bathroom. Furthermore, several detainees say that the only water they had access to was scalding hot shower water.
A prisoner locked in shower stalls claims he was repeatedly sprayed with pepper spray during his detention in the ad hoc isolation cell. Another inmate claims he was left without clothes and had to borrow a T-shirt from an inmate in an adjacent stall, a T-shirt he later used to attempt suicide. The inmate himself claims he was not imprisoned for any formal disciplinary infraction, but because the guards knew he was a sex offender.
“This systematic practice, similar to an unofficial custom, involved the use of shower stalls for prolonged confinement, often without even a bucket for defecating or drinkable water other than scalding hot shower water,” the lawsuit reads. “The conditions were recognized by some prison staff as violations of civil and human rights… some sympathetic staff attempted to address these harsh conditions but faced internal conflict.”
According to the lawsuit, the state of Oklahoma began an investigation into the treatment of prisoners at the facility in August 2023, around the same time as many of the alleged inmates. Shockingly, this investigation found that several Oklahoma facilities routinely locked inmates in shower stalls.
Although the state’s investigation ultimately led to the end of confinement in shower stalls, the lawsuit claims that inmates are still owed unspecified damages.
“Plaintiffs were subjected to prolonged confinement in feces-filled shower stalls, in conditions lacking basic amenities such as toilets, adequate bedding, a space to sit or lie down, drinking water, and basic humane treatment, which amounted to cruelty and unusual punishment,” the lawsuit reads. “Despite the obvious and egregious nature of these conditions, Defendants have shown deliberate indifference to Plaintiffs’ health, safety and basic human rights.”