Former CT DOC leader found liable in federal civil rights case
The former head of the Connecticut Department of Correction (CT DOC) and a current deputy commissioner have been found personally liable in a federal civil rights case.
A jury decided their actions crossed a constitutional line.
The case has been years in the making, with allegations dating back to 2016.
Some of the claims centered on the 8th Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishment, including accusations that an inmate was denied adequate food, recreation, and other basic services.
A federal jury found recently retired DOC Commissioner Angel Quiros, current Deputy Commissioner William Mulligan, and a now-deceased former DOC employee violated an inmate’s constitutional rights.
The case was brought by inmate Joe Baltas.
Jurors awarded more than $130,000 after finding Quiros, then a DOC district administrator, and Mulligan, then a warden, allowed Baltas to live in inhumane conditions.
Quiros was ordered to pay nearly $47,000 in damages, and Mulligan nearly $42,000.
If the verdict stands, that money could come out of their own pockets.
Both men rose to the highest levels of the CT DOC, making this a rare case in which top officials were held individually responsible.
Baltas’s attorney said he was given a diet with a dangerously low caloric intake and at times was kept in his cell 23 hours a day or more.
Baltas remains in DOC custody, according to the agency’s inmate locator.
The constitution requires prisons to provide safe, livable conditions, including care for physical and mental health.
Jurors concluded those standards were not met here.
Baltas is serving a life sentence for murder. His legal team, which handled the case pro bono, said it was grateful to the jury for the verdict.
NBC CT Investigates reached out to the attorney general’s office, which represents Quiros and Mulligan in the case.
A spokesperson said the office is reviewing the matter and evaluating next steps.
The office could ask the judge to overturn the jury’s verdict, reduce the damages, or order a new trial.
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