Juvenile home suit claims 'cruel and unusual punishment'

A former resident at the Iowa Juvenile Home in Toledo alleges he was a victim of "cruel and unusual punishment" after continually being placed in solitary confinement during his two-year stay at the facility, according to a new court filing.

JaQuan Bradford, now 18, and attorneys Jeff Lipman and Marc Harding, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.

The suit seeks damages related to Bradford's time at the home from August 2008 through December 2010.

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Bradford arrived at the home when he was 12. He had behavioral issues from a young age and a somewhat chaotic childhood, which included exposure to domestic violence and physical abuse, according to the lawsuit.

His experience with the criminal justice system included several charges, among them criminal mischief and interference with official acts.

Charles Palmer, director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, and Richard Shults, administrator of the Mental Health and Disability Services Division, are among the eight named defendants in the 12-page civil rights complaint.

Amy Lorentzen McCoy, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Human Services, said the department's general policy is not to comment on pending litigation.

The case seems to mark new ground in the way former residents of the controversy-soaked juvenile home might seek recourse . It's the first time a former resident has sought compensation through a federal lawsuit, according to Lipman.

This summer, a 20-year-old Okoboji woman filed suit in state court accusing the state of repeatedly violating laws and regulations on the use of isolation at the home. She says she spent 280 of her 528 days at the Toledo facility in an isolation cell.

In November 2012, the federally funded advocacy group Disability Rights Iowa uncovered widespread use of long-term isolation at the state-run home.

Gov. Terry Branstad ordered the facility closed earlier this year, following a series of Des Moines Register reports that detailed the use of long-term isolation and the home's failure to comply with federal special education laws.

Bradford's lawsuit does not ask for a specific amount for damages.

Lipman said a filing he submitted from an expert medical witness shows how his client's time in isolation affected his development into adulthood.

Psychiatrist Richard Nightingale notes in a letter that "certain conditions, such as psychosis, will be made worse through punishment and isolation."

Although a State Appeals Board is still considering a filing made by Bradford, Lipman said, the federal civil rights claim offered a better route to receive damages for his client.

"If this case serves to eliminate the practice (of isolation cells) in the state of Iowa, we've done our job," he said.