Thomas Lee Rutledge: Alabama inmate 'baked to death' in prison cell 'hotter than THREE HELLS', says lawsuit
BESSEMER, ALABAMA: Inmate Thomas Lee Rutledge was found dead in his cell and the family alleged that ‘he was baked to death’ in a lawsuit against Alabama corrections officials. According to the lawsuit filed by Rutledge’s sister, the internal temperature of his cell was 109 degrees Fahrenheit, when the officials found him unresponsive in the mental health cell. The amended complaint filed on November 30, claims the prisoner "was literally baked to death in his cell by excessive heat generated by the prison's heating system."
The documents further contend that prison staff at William E Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer was well aware of the problems with the heating system in the mental health unit before his death. According to the lawsuit, the weather on the day of Rutledge’s death was mild with outdoor highs recorded in the mid-40s Fahrenheit, and a low estimated around 30. "He was housed in a mental health ward, where inmates were confined to their cells around the clock, including eating and bathing in their cells. His death was the direct result of the deliberate indifference or malice of the prison officials, corrections officers, and maintenance personnel at Donaldson, and of the negligence and/or wantonness of the contractor entities," as per the lawsuit.
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It added that an investigator who was on the ward that evening after Rutledge's death commented in a recorded interview that when he opened a tray door to speak with another inmate, it was "hotter than three hells" and felt like "when you (are) getting something out of the oven and it hits your face." It also quotes an investigator from a recorded interview that when he opened a tray door to speak with another inmate, it was ‘hotter than three hells’ and it felt like "when you (are) getting something out of the oven and it hits your face." The official was on the ward the evening on which Rutledge died.
The state is already facing an ongoing lawsuit investigation by the US Department of Justice, over prison conditions and had pointed out the hyperthermia death in a court in 2021. It used it as an example of the ‘serious risks posed by dangerous conditions at Alabama's prisons for men." Inmate Thomas Lee Rutledge died of hyperthermia on December 7, 2020, reports AP News.
In response, Alabama accepted that it faces many challenges in the prison system, but argues the Justice Department’s claims on ‘unconstitutional conditions.’ The Department of Justice’s lawsuit is likely to get a trial date in 2024.
