Once again, no responsibility for the actions of 'authority'. We the tax payers get screwed once again....

He should have gotten a lot more than $22 million!

OMG! That is TERRIBLE!!!!!!! Good for this man. Hopefully that will make those people to pull their heads out.

Jeeze

It's that whole 'bully with badges' attitude that's rampant throughout the country. Time to stand up to injustice at the hands of law enforcers.

Whoever was responsible for running that jail should be charged with kidnapping and crimes against humanity. Upon conviction they should spend their entire sentence in general population

Somebody needs to be held "ACCOUNTABLE IMMEDIATELY"!!!!

This is "EQUIVALENT TO KIDNAP"!!!!

There have got to be repercussions...

Also we are tired of the people having to pay the price for the EVIL ACTIONS of people who does these types of things to others.

Everyone involved and or who knew of this should have to pay this man for the rest of their lives....

Where is the Justice Dept? They should be criminally prosecuting those responsible. This is not North Korea.

That's kind of frightening that this sort of thing can happen in the US. His civil rights were definitely violated whatever crime he committed. This needs to go beyond a civil case and should be taken to the Supreme Court for punitive action.

All the people involved at that prison not on;y need to be fired asap, but also need to be locked up for committing a crime against this man (unlawful prosecution and imprisonment).

People need to be held accountable for their actions, and not one of these authority figures should be allowed to walk free from what they did to this man.

REVOLUTION 2012

There are all kinds of bull that goes on in jails and prisons all across America. Cops are the biggest gang there is.

wryobsever -- Very observant. I mean obsevant. No so much on the wry part, though.

The less we care about our fellow human beings, the more this will happen. People in jails and prison are the throw aways of this country and with less fundings and more private ownership of prisons the more these men and women will fall through the cracks. two weeks after my 17th birthday i was arrested for murder, and convicted. I was in prison for 14 years, watched the prison system turn from a place where people who wanted to change their lives could, to just concrete walls where your humanity slowly slipped away into just hopeless people, where the only change in a daily routine was watching people die, either from health issues or at the end of a homemade knife. I was one of the lucky few that had and still have a supportive loving family. Even though i can't get a job because of my past, i am greatful for the time i did, it stripped away my desire for drugs or drinking and i re-taught myself how to live, love and have compassion, to never give up during the darkest of hours and take responsibility for everything.

RW, Thanks for your post. You have found it. Peace.

The article doesn't mention who is responsible for this guys situation, so does that mean they got away with it? No doubt the taxpayers will have to pay the $22M.

There's got to be more to the story than this. There just has to be. Did the man have no family or friends to start taking it up the chain? Did the media hear nothing about the case for 2 yrs? It's too outrageous to be true as written up in the article.

It would seem that criminal charges are in order for some of these prison officials and any others complicit in this atrocity. However, my guess is that these “officials” won’t get even a reprimand and the tax payers will, as usual, foot the bill.

Two years in solitary confinement for DUI? In New Mexico? I worked at a newspaper in the Land of Entrapment and it's seriously not uncommon for people to be driving around after having been arrested more than a dozen times for DUI.

Similar incident in Idaho where a guy was jailed for 72 days for tossing a cigarette butt in the gutter.

Cops are @!$%#s. Jailers are @!$%#s.

Good luck, my friend. Sorry for the loss of two years of your life.

if its a county jail, then the Sheriff's department is running it for the county, which means only their own internal affairs department would investigate it, unless the state wants to investigate, but usually the Good Ol' Boy system prevails in those cases.

Where is the criminal prosecutions for the jail personnel?

I thought it was "serve and protect," not kidnap and abuse. Ridiculous!

He got $22M for 2 years while the guy in Chicago who spent 16 years got $25M. Seems someone had a better lawyer.

AG99 - I'm thinking the same thing. I was about to exit the story and research the lawsuit. For an award like this, there has to be substance though.

Huh?What? - I believe what you are referring to is the detainees at Gitmo? You do realize that 3 years into the Obama presidency Gitmo is still alive and well, right? The attempt was made to charge and try these people by the justice department & it failed... So it sounds like the democrats are as deep into this mess as the republicans...! This doesn't have anything to do with politics!

When the hell are these people in power going to get jail time?? This was a crime not just a civil rights issue!!!

The prosecutors that with hold evidence the jailers that do something like this ALL NEED JAIL TIME!

Someone must have paid a bit of attention to him or he would have starved to death.

What an injustice. No judge, no trial...

Extremely poor reporting. How can they run this without investigating whether the people responsible are still there. Did the county fire everybody, like they should have. Were county officials re-elected? Do people of the county pay the 22 million?

Guess I wont be taking that New Mexico vacation after all. No all joking aside the Penal system is out of control. We jail for some crazy things. Yet some A-hole CEO can rip off the American taxpayer to the tune of millions and get away with it. Banks can rob the average American out of Billions and get away with it.

Guess what party the senators are from who support private run Prisons (AKA FOR PROFIT) at the taxpayers expense.Her is a link. No person should directly profit from holding an American citizen in a prison. It is one thing to pay for a correctional officers salary. And another thing to have to pay investors and stock holders.

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/07/11/no-way-out-private-prisons-or-conservative-sponsored-gulags/

WOW! 2 years of solitary confinement! That would certainly cause me to develop claustrophobia, This man is very strong if it hasn't affected him physicologically!

However, while I do not think that 22 million for what he endured is enough recompensation, I would go through what he did for that amount of money, especially in the state our economy is currently in! I sure as hell am not making 11 million a year now! I hope that the 22 million was tax-free!!!

This is what the NDAA and SB 1698 will do to the average citizen. Thanks obama for signing away my personal Liberties.

Where was his sister??? Shes more than willing to help him now that hes worth 22Million. Where was she the whole time he was locked away? One visit from an attorney a week in to this would have had him out. Something doesnt add up.

wryobserver should be put in solitary for two years. I'll listen to what he has to say then. Otherwise, I'm sayin he's Full of S**T

I too think there should be law enforcement people with some criminal charges brought against them. And if found guilty, they should be thrown in solitary for the duration of their punishment.

Peter, the thing is, he won't have a great retirement. Sounds like he has major psychological issues as a result of his experience and he'll likely suffer from them for the rest of his life. Money will get him needed therapy, but it won't fix what's broken in him.

Rontron, certainly the taxpayers will pay it, the cops use taxpayer money for EVERYTHING. That's good too, the police clearly are NOT policing themselves, and too many citizens just don't care because it requires more than a few seconds of thought. Making the citizens pay 22 million for an out of control police agency should help rein it in. If it doesn't, well then the reward obviously wasn't enough ...

New Mexico and Arizona, the "new South"?

The current governor of New Mexico, Susana Martinez, is a former prosecutor from the very county this happened in. There will be no State-level investigation. Sure, she'll probably make an excuse that includes the phrase, "take it seriously", but it will only be lip service.

That is one strange story. He will be more dangerous with 22M I'm thinking. Hope he has a guardian?? I'm sure there's a lawyer out there ready to relive him of all that money.

Voter-in-LA He got $22M for 2 years while the guy in Chicago who spent 16 years got $25M. Seems someone had a better lawyer.

And they are sending the guy from Chicago to prison again for three years on a drug charge.

So where are all the crowd that keeps telling us, "if you haven't done anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about."

This is the reason why we have checks and balances in this country.

While I believe that ANYONE convicted of a DWI deserves to have their license pulled for at least a year, this is certainly ridiculous. The guards, as well as prison officials should be held on Civil rights violations against this man. There is no need for anyone to be treated this way.

I'm here to tell you that Dona Ana is part of rural republican welfare New Mexico. Stupid poor, and still voting angry. You can tell the way they do business there from this story. It's not the only scary part of this state. Smart people live in Albuquerque, which, btw, almost always votes democratic.

I hope people see this as part of the pattern. Conservative -> less human rights -> a state like China.

It's happening all over this country, right under our noses.

Huhwhat? Are you really that dumb? He was a drunk, not a terrorist.

Tyrinmp, actually, the North is the new South. Always been worse up there than down here, just don't publicize it.

The man in Chicago was wrongfully convicted. This guy from NM was just held without bail or trial. This NM incident is a far greater injustice than having 12 people make a decision based on bad evidence.

They have a guy in jail for 2 years and don't have a court disposition in the file. Think I will find some highway out of Texas that runs north of New Mexico if I have to go west even if I have to go as far north as Kansas.

Pardon my French, but the penal system is f--ked up. No one really cares about how prisoners are treated because -- contrary to one of the fundamental tenets of the American justice system -- there's a general presumption of guilt by the public at large . . . "they had to do something to be in jail." Consequently, these jails operate with little-to-no oversight, and can virtually get away with whatever they want. After all, who cares -- or even believes -- what a criminal claims about how his/her rights were violated.

Unfortunately, I got to experience this first-hand. I got pulled over for having a tail light out, but had a bench warrant on a "failure to appear" charge from a speeding ticket some 9 months prior - I never got the court notice since the officer incorrectly copied down my address. So, the next thing I know I'm cuffed in the back of a squad car and headed "to county." All told, I was detained for a little over 30 hours and witnessed numerous rights violations. As an otherwise law-abiding and productive member of society with no criminal history, it was an eye-opening experience to say the least. Thus, I'm not entirely surprised to hear how this man was basically tortured for 2 years in a county jail.

Actually, ruby14, he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. He never received a trial, therefore was never convicted of any crime. He was placed in solitary confinement with no justifiable reason to put him there. Any prisoner, even the most hardened murderer has the right to medical treatment while in custody...how else are they going to get it if they are locked up? To deny it to someone who hasn't even been found guilty of any crime is a crime in itself. If he were truly guilty of DWI then he should have spent time behind bars, but not this way...and we'll never know if he was truly drunk because no evidence was presented at trial because no trial was held. And finally, the 22 million he was awarded wasn't for lost wages, it was for the inhumane treatment he received.

who judged him to be a suicide risk, it does not say he was examined by a physician or psychologist; the Sheriff, every Jailer the ido officers, the clerk of court all should be brought to trial on the criminal civil rights violations; the Judge (who was probably to drunk most of the time to check his docket, and the district attorney who was probably out playing golf are immune from any action), why has not the U.S. Attorney for that State brought charges to the grand jury ?

First of all, you can't necessarily say he was driving drunk as he was never convicted. He didn't have a TRIAL. And it sounds like he might not have had his "one phone call" either. Dogs at a shelter are treated better than this guy. And no, he will not have a great retirement because he has a good chance of dying before the appeals are done. Most likely he will never receive a dime of that $22 million. He will be lucky if he sees a fraction of it. As some have pointed out, at least the guy in Chicago had a trial. In his case he may see at least some of the money. And I imagine the guy in Chicago had a chance to get out of his cell, shower, shave, get an occasional hair cut and trim his nails.

Some posters are trying to say something like "He had a DWI, he COULD have hurt someone".

There is a big problem with "Could".

If you mean the likelyhood of causing an accident - and want to punish a possibility - then think about this:

An African American Male between the age of 18 and 25 has a LIKELYHOOD of committing a FELONY that is several times HIGHER than the likelyhood that a drunk driver will cause an accident.

So should we just lock all African American males between the ages of 18-25, to prevent those crimes?

I have no idea why we simply cannot punish everyone who causes an auto accident equally. We have a crazy system that punishes people with DWIs who have HIT NO ONE more harshly than a sober person who is eating food while on the cell phone in a car with bald tires that kills a person.

Stop trying to impose morality, and punish everyone who causes accidents.

On my way down from my soapbox, I also have to say : HOW THE ???? DID THIS GUY GO 2 YEARS WITHOUT GETTING CHARGED?

It boggles the mind.

You know, it amazes me how some people just don't get the level of injustice here. So, for all the teabaggers, who from comments I've read DON'T KNOW ONE DAMN THING about the Constitution, here's what it says in the Constitution and why this guy should ahve got MORE money AND everybody in that force and jail chould be looking at hard time in a federal pen.

From Article 1 sec 9

The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

And the definition and explanation of Habeas Corpus -

Habeas Corpus
habeas corpus n. Law A writ issued to bring a party before a court to prevent unlawful restraint. [<Med. Lat., you should have the body] Source: AHD

The basic premise behind habeas corpus is that you cannot be held against your will without just cause. To put it another way, you cannot be jailed if there are no charges against you. If you are being held, and you demand it, the courts must issue a writ of habeas corpus, which forces those holding you to answer as to why. If there is no good or compelling reason, the court must set you free. It is important to note that of all the civil liberties we take for granted today as a part of the Bill of Rights, the importance of habeas corpus is illustrated by the fact that it was the sole liberty thought important enough to be included in the original text of the Constitution. (we Have NO idea if he was EVER formally arraigned or charged, but it doesn't sound like it)

The 6th Amendment -

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. (he never even GOT a trial, much less a speedy one)

And the 8th Amendment

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. (I suspect solitary confinement for 2 yeasr for drunk driving would be consider excessive)

And the 5th Amendment

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprivedof life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. (don't see due process here)

and finally the 14th Amendment which applies the other listed above to the STATES, as stated in sec 1

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to thejurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

This bunch of criminals in uniform denied this guy his CONSTITUTIONAL rights under the 5th, 6th and 8th Amendments as mediated thru the 14th Amendment, AS WELL AS his Habeas Corpus rights, the SINGLE most BASIC right in the Constitution (which is WHY it is the ONLY specified INDIVIDUAL RIGHT in the unamended Constitution- it was and is that important). And, they undoubtedly denied him several State constitutional rights as well.

The man was locked up, without formal charges or benefit of trial, for 2 years, in solitary.

This is one of the most egregious examples of abuse of power I've ever seen and it happened in a REPUBLICAN dominated county, and is treated in this forum, by teabaggers and republicans and libertarians, as just a get rich quick scam.

and the county will appeal,can only hope they double the award

RwEvans

Nice job. Great post.

I also did a 14 year set for Manslaughter...The system is broken. I read a great book while I was locked up called The Celling of America. It explores the prison industrial complex. It was banned shortly after I received it by the prison. I was working inside the prison furniture factory at that time. Read it if you get the chance...It is worth the time. ;)

On the part about getting a job...I was lucky to land a part time job at a local Yoga studio...I think they like the Karma...LOL I have been trying to find full time work, but even with a degree I have been unable to get hired. I may return to school and seek another degree.

In short...Keep your head up and hang in there...You are not alone.

Peace

In many states, jails are outsourced to companies that specialize in running jails.

Outsourcing can be a bad idea for a lot of reasons. There is less accountability, there is less clarity, and the people doing the work are often less well trained and less well paid. And they often care less about what they are doing.

I don't know if New Mexico jails do that -- but the way this man was treated, it wouldn't surprise me.

They have to prosecute the people who are responsible for this. Give them his old cell.

ryoushi12- Before you start hollering about conservatives-

First, Liberal policy specifically suspends the 14th Amendment (illegally I might add) by granting special access to schools and jobs (as well as financial aid and other services) based on color, gender and other special classes as they see fit to create, they're called "Affirmative Action Plans" and are enforced by OFCCP, and other entities. It violates equal protection clauses.

So before you start jabbering your partisan crap, remember what's at question here- Liberty, which I PROMISE you, no party has cornered the market on.

Second, you just got served, so if we're teabaggers then you're getting bagged.

New Mexico, Gitmo..........what is the difference????? For those that say, do nothing wrong and you have nothing to fear???????

I would start doing some serious' hunting' after two years in a cell and no trial. ANY jail/correctional worker would be prime.................

And the government folks wonder why domestic 'issues' arise.

The rulings you refer to are Supreme Court rulings APPLYING constitutional rights, SPECIFICALLY the 9th Amendment (which all of the catholic fascist on the current Supreme Court write off as a dead letter)

And the 9th Amendment says

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

The intent here is amazingly clear - just because we, the framers, didn't happen to include some right of the individual SPECIFICALLY in the Constitution does NOT mean that that right does NOT exist, but that it DOES so in fact exist and belongs to the people. The right to privacy standsHERE, NOT in the 5th or 6th Amendments, which merely guarantee procedural rights when a citizen is in conflict with or charged by the government with some offense.

As for the 14th Amendment, the intent here is also very clear, to ensure the STATES apply the SAME civil rights to ALL citizens within their boundaries, including the Bill of Rights, and DID NOT apply different and unequal standards which left many as poorly treated second and third class citizens (which, is unfortunately exactly what DID happen from the 1870's to the 1960's when your rightwing side, mike, dominated the agenda).

And frankly, to make up for CENTURIES of rightwing discrimination, the playing field NEEDED to be tilted (and I say this as a middle aged working class white guy who knows my REAL enemy is romney and his ilk, and gingrich and his band of racist thugs), and it has tilted back again as statistics show - white males have the LOWEST level of unemployment right now, under HALF the rate of the national average, and ONE FOURTH the rate of black males - that for all the boohooing by rightwing white male crybabies moaning about how "discriminated" against they are.

So I stand by my statement that what happened to this guy is what MANY americans can expect under teabaggers, republicans and libertarians - history and FACT is on my side.

This can happen to any of us, now that the NDAA is law. Some here point their finger at the republicans, but the NDAA was a bi-partisan bill, signed by Obama. The Repubs & Dems are responsible for the NDAA, that strips Habeus Corpus from American Citizens. Wake Up & think for yourself people or this guy's torment could happen to you.

Hmmm... In most cases, there is a distinct difference between prison and jail. Jail can be a local city or county facility, while a prison is a state or federal facility. The commander of the jail should make it his/her business to know every thing that is happening in their facility. That would include knowing about a DUI suspect being held for more than a few days. It sounds like the command structure at this facility should be replaced, and restaffed with more responsible staff. I cannot imagine such a thing happening at Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's jail.

My vote for punishment for all involved is to put them in the same cell for two years of solitary confinement, just as they held this man, then let them go out on the street.

American citizens are specifically exempted from the NDAA, as well as protected by the Constitution from indefinite incarceration. The only way they'd be able to do so is if no one knows you are being held.

WhistleBerries

...I cannot imagine such a thing happening at Sheriff Joe Arpaio's jail.

#1.63 - Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:14 PM CST

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You are joking... aren't you... because you know that fat jerf-off is being investigated too.

Capt Tripp - don't tell Sick of Liberals that -- might confuse him with the facts! I don't like it either, but when GWB passed the so-called Patriot Act, Congress handed him our rights on a silver platter.

@Skiddy, the North is the new South? I don't think so. Albeit, the North has some hateful folks, but my folks were not permitted to vote (although they worked and paid their taxes) until they moved to the North. I was born up North, and moved down South with my military husband (Texas, to be exact). I carried a gun for protection. Never felt like that up North. So, while the North has its issues, I'll stay up here, thank you.

This is happening all over.

8 years ago I did something stupid and drove with a .08 bal. After spending 3 WEEKS in jail, I finally got to see the judge, and I had a lawyer. The judge gave me bail and a court date for my DUI case. They took me back and the officers mistook me for another inmate who was suicidal. They through me in a jail cell with feces on the wall. Another 2 inmates in this same cell. One was rocking back and forth and the other was masturbating and throwing his semen at the 2 of us in the cell. The officers at that part of the jail thought it was funny. The one person two cells down that did complain loudly was restrained to a full body size wood board and dragged into another cell.

Cobb County, Georgia.

County Services Road.

Dont think just because you live in a city, like Atlanta, that you wont get mistreated by those who are supposed to serve and protect us.

BTW, my lawyer said he would sue Cobb County if I paid him $50,000 dollars and was ready to lose the case. The only way I would see a penny would of been post humously and it would be my family that MAY of received a settlement.

In closing, dont drink and drive, you may find yourself in the electric chair or having some ethnic guy flinging his semen at ya.

Being in an electric chair while an ethnic person flings his semen at you??? Your jail time sounds like my home life. I miss you, grandma!!!

Capt Tripps & Kat-101, neither of you would know a fact, if it bitch smacked you. The NDAA specifically attacks American citizens. Read it for yourself, or is that to hard? I didn't hear it on Fox news or Msnbc. Unlike people of your ilk; I READ.

Now continue to give me your media driven facts, which in fact are not facts. Kat-101, I know its hard for you to swallow, but your guy Obama is no different than Bush.

The NDAA gives the government the power to detain American citizens without trial. Is that fact hard to swallow? I tried posting a link to the actual bill, but it was removed. Am I doing something wrong when posting links, or does MSNBC only allow liberal website links? The link I tried to provide was to the actual bill, not some bs news outlet......

Capt tripps, although the first part of the NDAA exempts American citizens from it's provisions, the second part states it does not exempt American citizens if terrorist activities are involved, terrorist's activity's are defined as, a threat to the peace and security of the Government of the United States, pretty broad statement; always remember, no government wants any restraint on their authority, that is why, congress and the president do not like the Constitution, republican and democrat, "the constitution is just a piece of paper",G.W. BUSH

I was also in the Cobb County Jail once in Atlanta, and I had a fever for several days and was also coughing up flem and blood. I begged to see the nurse outside the cell block handing out meds. The jailhouse thugs said sorry you need to get a nurse form, and it will be atleast three days before you can see a nurse. So day after day after day I continued to fill out forms. Finally on the third day the nurse came again, I was so sick and so ill at seeing her outside window dispensing meds and not being allowed to see her I started really started pressing guard to see her more than I had been, and a guy from prison waiting to testify joined in saying this man has been laying in bed for 3 days sick coughing blood and flem and can not see the dang nurse, and said what do you have todo die around here to see the nurse. so finally the guard said come with me, and if you aren't sick you will be throwed in the hole. So the nurse gave him a thermomter, and he shoved it in my mouth improperly only to have it show 98 or so. He pushed me back in the cell block and made me get my things and took me to a room to be transfered to the hole. There happened to be a nurse there and she asked did I receive a shot when I came in. I said no, but that I am sick and would like my temp taken again. When she took my temp it read 103. When the guard came back to take me to the hole she explained to him the only place he was taking me to was the infermery. Then the stupid jailhouse thug said in a laughing voice, " I was just joking, I knew you were sick all along." After he pushed me around made me get my mattress, all of which I did not take to the infermery. I so wish I would have tried to sue them for the way they treated me. Doesnt sound like Cobb County is much different than this New Mexico facility.

Dont think just because you live in a city, like Atlanta, that you wont get mistreated by those who are supposed to serve and protect us.

I was also in the Cobb County Jail once in Atlanta

America Today-Anthony & denny01 -- it's funny you both mention Atlanta/Cobb County . . . not "haha" funny, obviously, but ironic I guess, as the experience I described in post #1.48 above happened in Atlanta; but in Fulton County, vs. Cobb. From your respective posts, it sounds like there's not much difference though.

I was fortunate that I was only in there for 30 hours. There was a kid in my holding cell - maybe 18 - who'd been pulled over in ATL for not using his turn signal, but like me, he didn't know he had a bench warrant on some other minor infraction. Well, the county that issued the warrant ordered him held at Fulton until they could send an officer to pick him up. He'd already been there 2 days when I arrived, and was looking at least another 3 days when I got out because they couldn't spare the manpower over the weekend. So this poor kid had to spend a week in jail for a couple minor traffic tickets - and this wasn't "in population," mind you, where you at least get a cot, but in the standing-room-only holding cells in the booking area. Total nightmare, and not at all uncommon in Georgia from what I've seen and heard.

Obviously, it pales in comparison to what this guy in NM was subjected to, but I think it further illustrates the frightening state of the penal system as a whole, and the fact that these sorts of things can happen to anyone. Scary.

Every single person that ever interacted with him at the prison should be fired.

And the people in charge should all be put on trial for unlawful confinement.

Too bad it didn't happen after the NDAA came into effect.

They could have revoked his citizenship and continued torturing him with impunity.

AG-I agree there must be more to this story. Where was this guys attorney, family, or friends.

Until we begin to hold government officials criminally accountable for their crimes instead of paying off the victims with taxpayer, unlimited dollars, nothing will change.

Not only why didn't ANYONE in the jail do something, where the hell was the judges???

While I personally, hate the act of driving drunk; he was entitiled to a trial! People have said where was his family, how could they have found him, when he was obviously forgotten. I ask "why did no one at the jail ever check to see why he was there so long?" There is obviously a huge problem with the entire law enforcement department of that county! I had to shake my head when I read, the county is going to waste even more tax dollars trying to fight this!

He got $22M for 2 years while the guy in Chicago who spent 16 years got $25M. Seems someone had a better lawyer.

was the guy in chicago permanantly stuck in solitary without even the mandatory 1 hour daylight a day?

did the guy in chacago get a trial, even if it was a wrongful conviction?

Skiddy - I am from the North and now live in the South; I was just wishing there was a way I could move back up there...I hate being among the racist and just plain dumb down here.

And before anyone tells me to just move back up there - the father of my child is from here and would never live in the cold winters that they have up there...

For all the people asking why his sister and friends didn't do anything, I'm guessing they didn't have a clue. He was depressed and borrowed a friends car to drive across country and out of NM. Sounds like he was in a bad place mentally and probably a loner to a degree, so while you may worry about him, there wouldn't necessarily be a real reason to be overly alarmed at not hearing from him for a couple of years. Or too they may have been searching for him. However, with no trial, the paperwork couldn't have been properly filed and he was just a ghost in the system. Frankly I'm surprised (and glad) he wasn't there longer!

I'll drink to that. It's Miller time!

This sounds like a horror story from a 3rd world country-not the USA! Scary!

What I want to know is where were this poor guys family or friends while he sat in there.They could have at least got him out on bail or done something but they did nothing and of course now they're there for him now that he's a millionaire!!

Where were his Friends and Family during this two year period. The article is truly written from  being victimized. This man probably deserves the compensation, but One can only wonder, He "borrowed" a car from his friend, "Was drinking while Driving", AND NO ONE IN HIS FAMILY CAME TO HIS AID? Until the TRIAL where his family shows up now? Who the freak left him abandoned that long ? Hate your siblings, hate your family, Why, Keep in Contact with them, Make amends, don't let your brother, sister, kids, parents go through this type of thing. It will happen less when WE as a people start caring for each other, instead of letting the Government and poli-TICS-ians decide how we should run our lives. Good luck in your life Mr. Slevin,

In the old days, people got to have a trial before being imprisoned.

In the real old days, people just got imprisoned.

New Mexico loves dem good ol' days.

What a bunch of clueless fools.

I say WOW as well. It's so cowardly that Jess Williams, Dona Ana County's public information director is not saying, as he should, how shameful this poor man's experience has been. Everyone that came in contact with Mr. Slevin and stood by doing nothing should not only be fired but arrested, even if it means replacing the entire law enforcement agency. What a horrendous thing to do to someone. It's actually scary.

I am sure that 22 m comes from the entire police dept who fabricates these stories, and took him, and the judge and the court recorder, 10 Years each in jail at once, no trial at all, there is a judge, believe me, someone did the paperwork.

But where was UN like also in Guantanamo, about all this inhumane treatment?

They are lucky he did not die, or all the above mentioned should have what they like so much down there, all of them death penalty, then and only then would this change overnight.

And we go and preach Freedom in mid east---now you know why they all come after us, we are a bunch of hypocrats

Well I'm sure since "this wasn't about the money" he'll be donating that money for lawyers to help other criminals.

Someone has to answer for this inhumane treatment, and hiding behind 'we can't discuss personnel issues' just does not cut it. A Federal investigation is warranted.

All the outrage over this story and none over the NDAA, which allows the government to do this anytime they wish to do it.

Held without charge, indefinitely, revoked US citizenship. Honestly, does anyone else not see this?

The US Congress & Senate passed it, and Obama signed it into law. What happened to this man is now legal for our government to do anytime they please.

I urge anyone to check it out for themselves, don't take my word for it - do it for your kids.

National Defense Authorization Act, research it - help repeal it.

Wah Wah Freaking Wah! Boo Hoo Freaking Hoo!I am a law abiding citizen... I have a college education and work a minimum wage job.I can't afford medical or dental benefits and my health is anything but stellar. For over 2 yrs I have suffered failing dental and physical health. I have applied and was denied state/federal assistance to receive treatment.This sniveling whining man is in a federal institution that I,you and millions more of tax payers pay for. Recently the pain from my deteriorating dental issues became intolerable and I traveled to Mexico to have several teeth pulled as I could not afford restorative treatment to save my teeth...now I am suffering even more pain from "dry socket" and infection....where is my 2 MILLION dollars for living my life on the side of the law. I am far from being and idiot or an imbecile..but I just don't get it!!!!

TyrionImp

"New Mexico and Arizona, the "new South"?"

Wrong. Arizona didn't vote for Obama. New Mexico did. Arizona doesn't give drivers licenses to illegal aliens. New Mexico does. I lived there for 3 1/2 years from late '86 to early '90. Went back in 2001 during 9/11. 10 years and the state turned into weirdo land, much like California. Reap what you sow.

I am far from being and idiot or an imbecile..but I just don't get it!!!!

maybe we should just lock your whining ass in a solitary cell for two years with no trial, no contact, no sunlight, no shower and nothing to do but go insane, I'll bet you'll "get it" then.

Those responsible for the violation of his rights need to be tried and convicted and spend their sentences in solitary.

nah ! let them do their terms in general population and let "bubba" get them all up the ass, let them get it big time

The County would be wise to fire all the law enforcement jail personnel gestapos without any benefits and then have them arrested for abusive treatment while waiting their trial. The same goes for any involved with a cover up, or not cooperating with the legal investigation (which is called "Obstruction of Justice"). The State Gov. should be put on alert for such shenanigans going on in his State that should never be tolerated.

creampieman-You are a dick the type of pussy who goes running for a cop when his ass is on the line. I am sure you have a great deal of experience with law enforcement a loser like you always does. I'm sure you have gotten your ass handed to you by LE several times all justified.

Where are the @!$%#in newsvine police to shutdown a stupid ass comment like creampie's? Unless sh!t like this is OK here.

There needs to be an investigation and some people NEED to be FIRED. As well as loose any pension they had coming. Hope this story doesn't just go away as I am very interested in seeing some form of justice for those in charge.

@ teachusomethingorother: well, luckily for him, he has the same right to an opinion as you do...what are you, a cop?

"never given a trial"

Heads should roll."

Baja5: You do realize the NDAA, signed and going into effect in March, makes it a law the military can arrest any American they deem defined as a "terrorist", or simply "an enemy of the government"; such as those protesting, and jail them indefinitely, without a trial.

Debi: Yes, I do. That a heinous piece of work, isn't it?

Now Joghnney I kinow youtr probably can't comprehend this but the jails are not run by the police department. As you most likely have no clue of how city, country and state agencies are set up, you may want to check it out before making yourself look like a uneducated fool.

Why check it out ?- you are apparently the uneducated fool. this was a county jail run by the county sherrifs dept. I know you probably can't comprehend that.

bill s-374237 QUOTE: More and more and more our police departments resemble the Stazi of the former East Germany...

There are some fine Police Dept's that take great pride in being and acting Professional... Same with Jails and Jailers... Please do NOT lump the Professionals in with these abusers!!!

By the way, I, drove Transit Coach for 15 years... I, was amazed at the guys that rode who bragged loudly at how much time they had just served, like it was a badge of honor, in serving time... I, thought it was ignorant and disgusting....

Where are you from? Mississippi?

Sawyer: If you live there its comming out of your taxes.....hehehehehehe

I live in New Mexico - Albuquerque metro area - and I'm outraged that we, the taxpayers have to, once again, bail out the perps who commtted this crime. All this does is reinforce the idea that they'll get away with it again. After all, if you knew somebody else would pay for your crime, would you have any incentive (other than honor, which these perps don't have) not to commit it?

Personal accountability is the only honorable course of action!

If that was Texas that county would be up to its ears in Rangers and feds. Big brother in DC still babysits us on dang near everything.

Yeah, it's right next to a number of states. What is your point? Most people make it a point to relieve themselves on Texas soil before returning to New Mexico. The joke is, why is New Mexico windy? Because Texas sucks and Arizona blows. There doesn't tend to be a lot of love for either of those states around here.

Sadly, I'm a current resident of Dona Ana county. Which means, this will definitely come out of my taxes. Which also means, I'm doubly outraged at this. The sheriff's department does have a bad reputation around here. We will be lucky if the state investigates. I'm not going to hold my breath though.

Angry Guy, the guy was picked up on a DWI not plotting a bomb attack on Los Alamos. And furthermore, the bad guys here are the ones who work for the county in NM. I was reading this article thinking he had a DWI in Iran or Syria. So if you don't like your tax dollars paid out for unbelievable civil rights violations, then fire your elected officials by voting them out of office. The guy got $22 million for federal civil rights violations, which included no right to an attorney, no due process, etc. He wouldn't have been in jail had he had those things and none of this would have gotten to this point. And furthermore, why should the US taxpayers be forced to ante up when this was perpetrated in a local government jurisdiction. Like I said, fire your elected representatives and their police department.

NoSnoHere: Just changing elected officials is not enough.

What really needs to be done is to change the laws which protect these government criminals.

Debi, in case you spent your time in civics class sleeping, be aware that laws are legislated and enacted by elected officials.

Actually, kids, it will come out of the county's insurance. Though I agree it should come out of the jailers' hides.

one more reason why states and localities should not be given so much power.

He didn't get a sentence, they just arrested him and left him there for 2 years.

"If he never seen a judge how did he get a sentence of 2 years?"

The article is a bit sparse on details but that seems to be the point of it all, there was no sentence (AKA no trial, no judge, no prosecutor, no defense). Jail officials just threw him into a cell and left him there. Unfortunately this is not the first case of this, though this is of course the longest case in terms of detainment. At least he got fed, there was a case (Also out west if I remember correctly) where jail officials threw a lady into a cell and completely forgot about here for about a week. Luckily they found here before she died if thirst/starvation.

You need to re-read the story. He was never given a sentence............just thrown in solitary and left to rot.

Did he not have family or friends????

Thank you for clarification. I guess my brain could not wrap around the fact that he was just thrown in there!! Just crazy! Yeah good point Where was his family and friends? OMG what if he was also on a missing person list too?!?! LOL one hand looking for him while the other slaps him around.. Wow just Wow.

How is it that the names of the people who ran the jail from top to bottom haven't been named in any article about this and the court case? How does it get to Federal court without any defendants being named fof the crimes they have committed. Terrible journalism being practiced as well as injustice.

Any and all staff @ this county jail should be prosecuted for criminal confinement-certainly fired- and civil judgements placed against each - This is a particularly disgusting case of neglect and criminal behavior that really should result in the above mentioned sanctions against all involved.

He didn't get a 2 year sentence it took that long for his lawyer to cut the red tape.

Ok, @brutisbear, wtf is Alex Jones and why have you posted 4237 times to tune into it?

Optymyst, did you read the article? He didn't go out to buy a carton of milk. He was depressed and borrowed a car to drive across the country. I don't think anyone was expecting to hear from him.

"I don't think anyone was expecting to hear from him." For two years? What did everyone who knows him think it takes two years to make the trip?

Yes, Jerry, the plaintiff probably sued the jail officials for negligence and probably infliction of emotional distress, both intentional and negligent, and the county for negligent supervision of the jailers. Unless the jail officials are wealthy, payment will come from the county or, more likely, from the county's insurer. If it comes from the county directly, it will come out of tax proceeds. Jails are governmental entities acting under color of law, so the public is ultimately responsible for their failures that cause harm to others.

One justification for suits like this is it gets government to do the right thing, including discharging those who failed to do what was expected of them and implementing measures that will ensure that this doesn't happen again.

I do not condone what was done, but I do have questions. He was in solitary confinement for 2 years, Yet no one from his friend who lent him the car to his sister asked any questions, got him a lawyer, or even went to see him or went to the press about what was going on. I think the Chief of Police and his entire force should be investigated and fired. But I would also like to know what really happened. Something smells about this whole thing. Why was his sister or his friend not involved. Why did they not get a lawyer.

Too many questions and not enough answers.

He was being held captive by the police. No one knew he was in this jail. It probably wasn't even on the books. There's nothing questionable about this, especially if a judge awarded him $22 million dollars!

It's really sad, but the guy sounds like he was a depressed loner who wanted to get away from his life. It doesn't sound like his friends or sister were expecting to hear from him for awhile. I moved to South America once. It would have been very easy to just disappear if I wanted to or if someone else wanted me to.

No you can't fire them... they have a union which won't allow it...

Cops who abuse their power like this should face a firing squad. Other than putting a dent in the donut and coffee industries, I see no downside.

Not that I think Cops are great @selfmade13, but the prison system in this country is a privatized buisness. They should be prosecuted and should have to pay out of thier own pocket for this.

2 years without any human contact f*cks a person up mentally.

Me too. Hahahahahahahahahahahah

Really? I always figured it was human contact that f*cked me up mentally.

????

I was replying to Rukens comment above, Peel Layer.

I doubt if you would last 2 hours in solitary before you were begging the low-life jail guards to let you out let alone 2 years.

Ok, you've made my day, Adam Henry. That was really funny. A drunk driver like this loser killed my pregnant sister. He got off with a slap on the hand. Even after two years, want to bet this loser is out behind the wheel driving drunk and will be arrested for the same thing again? This time I hope they throw away the key!

idoldoll; were you able to get this bastard into civil court and at least make sure he couldn't afford to own a car anymore?

Geeezz, the guy just wanted a warm place to @!$%#, and he got $22M. Is this a great country or what ?

Problem is, he won't see but a tiny fraction of that 22M, so it wouldn't be worth it

@idoldoll

The article says he was arrested for DUI. Never says he was ever tried or convicted, or even tested for DUI.

Even after two years, want to bet this loser is out behind the wheel driving drunk and will be arrested for the same thing again?

idoldoll - This man was never given a trial. He may have been arrested for drunk driving but if no evidence was ever presented, how do we know this is the case? If locking someone in solitary for 2 years without ever seeing a judge is the way law enforcement does business there, I certainly wouldn't take their word for his guilt!

idoldoll, You read arrested for drunk driving and conclude that he is guilty, but you failed to read the entire story. He was never tried or convicted. Considering how he was treated, including the bogus suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, nothing he was arrested for is valid. I don't condone drunk driving and I don't condone lynch mobs either.

An innocent man was subjected to illegal confinement, denied legal representation, denied medical care and treated worse than an animal, but you equate him to some drunk that killed your sister. I hope you are never on a jury...

NB820-001, I think you hit that nail right on the head. This mentality of convicting people based on suspicion has throw the law right out the window.

For the ignorant here who think being locked up with NO human interaction is a breeze for two months, much less two years, I recommend watching the Law and Order SVU episode where Stabler does it for a month. As a former interrogator in the army, I'd say what they showed was a pretty good example of the slow deterioration of someone under those conditions (it's why restricted forms of this are used in interrogations - it develops a craving for human contact that can overcome any inhibitions to talk). You start hearing voices, become lethargic, more sensative to other noises, more withdrawn, depressed and so on.

It's one reason I'm against the death penalty - if you REALLY want to punish a murderer, put them in solitary. It's cheaper and they don't last as long as a death row convict (most people, like John Gotti, last less than ten years before dying).

ryoushi12

"So I stand by my statement that what happened to this guy is what MANY americans can expect under teabaggers, republicans and libertarians - history and FACT is on my side.""

your so a hoot!!! nothing but a ignorant bigot and even more you reference a made-up tv show as something factual!!!! lol cant help it. please re-read history and you will find the truth, do not lie to others. history, facts and reality are not on your side.

humans can endure alot, no two minds are alike and humans can withstand extended periods of solitary without much issue. this mans drawback was that he was forced into solitary and treated less than they food we eat and was already mentally unstable prior to the kidnapping. doing a month in solitary is easy if your a willing participant (even not). i guess we look to tv for our facts........

all parties involved should be charged with appropriate crimes along with the settlement to make aware that the citizens needs to get more involved and check the powers they granted to others or face consequences. this mans life was stolen by the authorities without a word and the media didnt do its job gathering the facts or investigating the issue. this is our future, going back to the past.

Really no trial, you sure about that.

The jury in his civil suit seemed pretty GD sure about it! They were sure to the tune of 22 million dollars.

I'll take the no trial claim with a grain of salt.

Take it anyway you like...the matter has been settled in a court of law...and his claim of "no trial" was demonstrated to the satisfaction of the jury. Whatever you chose to believe is irrelevant.

It would be pretty hard to hide a trial from a jury. There's no way there could have been a trial with no record. Even an appearance before a judge would have been recorded. And there's no way those records could exist and not have been presented at trial. He would never have been awarded such a large amount of money if he'd been lying about the most central point of his case. Sometimes things actually are as they seem. He got so much money because it's state kidnapping, unlawful confinement and crap.

Our founding fathers would be turning in thier graves all thier hard work regarding human rights and the bill of rights out the window sounds like the USA turned into a 3rd no 4th world nation

Dammit, he looked guilty...

Under the "Patriot Act" the government can simply delcare ANYONE a "terrorist" and all the constitutional rights you believed you enjoyed are gone. Due Process is a distant memory, and you will be lucky if you are not "Renditioned" for "Enhanced Interrogation". With all the "exclusions" to our rights fully executed since Bush trashed them, why would anyone be surprised about this violation and the almost certainty that no one will be personally held accountable? We can't even end the Gitmo debacle because we are to "afraid" to bring the prisoners to American soil and face the consequences of our illegal, immoral and cowardly actions. One of the strongest principles driving the founding fathers was the right to due process and freedom from indefinite incarceration without facing your accusor. The justice system is broken and we don't know how put Humpty together again. Consider the Bush administrations political stocking of the courts Judges while your at it. Republicans were not so "against Judicial Activism" as "against Judicial Activism that disagrees with their agenda". Hence the silence on Corporations having the constitutional rights of people.

A Sojourner here, you are an idiot. The people in Gitmo are as much combatants in a war as our military, and are not entitled to a trial. Under the Geneva convention they are to be held and not tried like a criminal (Japan did that in WWII).

This story is a one in a million story, not all cops/jailers are bad.

I am proud to say I served many years in the Air Force.

I gave up several of my rights so you could have yours.

@Airforce: You need to clean the poo from between your ears. You're living in some crazy candyland.

EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO A TRIAL - EVERYONE!!!!

"I gave up several of my rights so you could have yours."...what rights did you supposedly give up for the general public, again?...Aside from the right to quit your job in the USAF :)

Under the Geneva convention they can be held until the war is over. Now who is going to even sign a peace treaty to end the war would be the interesting question since no government claims them.

Air Force , thanks for your service , but , if you weren't conscripted ( drafted ) you didn't give up a single "right" .

That's the beauty of selling yourself.

Actually, I will step in here. I was in the Air Force for 9 plus years. When you join the Military, you are covered by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It overrides many of the "rights" that civilians have. You are covered by different laws and regualtions, and the are MUCH more strict. Cheat on your wife as a civilian, can get a divorce. In Military, you can go to jail. There are even parts of the UCMJ that are general provisions. More or less, states that they can charge you with anything, as long as it is deemed to be against the best interest of the military. Look at the Generals daughter wrong, they could charge you with lewd behavior, etc (that is hypothetical, but is a good example of how it could be used).

That's not gicing up any rights, that's simply living under a different set of rules. He would still have a right to a trial if accused of a crime, even if that crime is oggling some officers jailbait (which is really no different than what anyone in power can do to those without it, military or civilian). Technically speaking adultery is still illegal in several states in America, not just the military, but you are as likely to be prosecuted for it in either situation as you are to be thrown in prison for 2 years without trial.

AMERICANPEASANT-It's you with the sh!t in their ears Air Force never said this guy wasn't entitled to a trial and no those scumbags in GITMO are not entitled to anything they are not U.S. citizens and should be given the same "rights" as Daniel Pearl.

Air Force-Thanks from one vet to another.

I'm pretty sure he can now afford a driver, and he doesn't have to live in N. Mexico anymore. He is a hero because he has been brave and ultimately shown us justice.

peteyob: you're right on the money with your entire post. Calling him a "hero" is stretching things a bit.

Dona Ana county was given a chance to "tell its side" for this article, and they declined. I say if they had nothing to hide, they had nothing to fear. After all, it's only the guilty who wants his rights, isn't it?

Since I live in Texas, the land of the 15 phrases a federal judge won't let you say in a graduation exercise, I 'll let the rest of you talk about lost rights.

What are the 15 phrases?

Peteyob, There was no mention of a breathalizer. We can be pretty sure he wasn't driving drunk, any more than he was driving a stolen car. It was just scumbag cops trying to lose the paperwork for a false arrest to cover up their Miranda violations. The guy got lost with the paperwork and none of the county creeps gave a damn. The arresting cops and the jailers should all be in jail themselves, working off the 22 million at a dollar a day. Instead they are all still on the job.

Not at all, in a foreign country he would not have been allowed to sue for damages and violation of Constitutional rights.

Oh really Dennis? You think the US is the only country with a constitution?

Some politican's relitive is probably running the place. Screw up? Up bet. 22 million worth? Juries are clueless.

I agree - how can this happen? There has to be paperwork and things filed...he was fed obviously...something is odd.

Maybe I'd be a little more skeptical if the jury hadn't decided in his favor after a trial. I suspect if the defendants in the case had any credible exculpatory evidence they would have presented it to the jury.

Again, Dona Ana county was offered the chance to tell its side for the article, and declined. Pretty suspicious, don't you think? After all, isn't it the guilty perp who claims his right not to answer questions?

I really do wonder what sort of defense Dona Ana county offered. I'd love to see the transcript of the trial.

Angry Guy -

The county is appealing and there are laws against public officials making comments regarding ongoing litigation against private citizens.

Federal judge wouldn't have awarded 22million if the county wasn't grossly negligent.

Just because they fed the man doesn't mean he was held legally. Please re-read the entire story. He was NEVER given a trial. NEVER given an opportunity to talk to a judge or lawyer. He was held in solitary confinement for 24 months WITHOUT being charged for a crime. He was arrested on SUSPICION of DUI and being in possession of a stolen vehicle.

The vehicle was not stolen, but borrowed with permission. They knew this. Otherwise the car would have been reported stolen after some time. There were never any charges leveled against the detainee. He was not a prisoner, as he was never convicted. You can not, under law, hold someone as a detainee for 24 months. I think the max is 72 hours. Saying the detainee is mentally unstable may increase that time frame, but not by 24 months. Especially if he wasn't seen by a mental health specialist. He was denied due process.

Bob, of course you're not getting the whole story. The the uniformed thug cops and jailers buried it to cover their butts. We need to institute intense psyche tests for law enforcement to ensure that we stop hiring criminals to protect us. I've called the cops to report a crime, only to have them treat me like I was the criminal, complete with being subjected to an illegal search. When I started to question their behavior, one pulled a big metal flashlight, and the other put his hand on his gun. I shut up. The bottom line is, you can't trust the police. Only a fool would defend them.

News flash..... Law enforcement and corrections aren't the same department. Apparently in New Mexico Corrections must be staffed by six grade dropouts.

Both law enforcement and corrections are guilty. The cops are guilty of false arrest, the jailers are guilty of cruel and unusual punishment. The whole criminal injustice system is culpable.

Its a shame that one dirty system can pollute the thinking for the nation, but they do it to us.

Probably because you're married to a @!$%#bag cop.

THANK YOU, mendy07! Something is definitely missing here. Cop-bashers can say what they want and I'm sure will flame me for this (have at it!!) but there is no way this is the full story. I'm sure this guy was wronged, but if he truly got no due process this would be a MUCH bigger story than what we're seeing here.

msnbc, please do your homework and figure out what's really going on here instead of simply reprinting this dudes' lawyers' press release!!

This from someone who probably got what was coming to his selfmade self. NO profession is perfect and there are a lot of people doing what they have no business doing.....we could start with that dipwad in the white house. But the irony here is a man breaks the law.....probably more than once....drunks always do and then gets his booze paid for for life. There should be consequences for those who dismissed him but there should not be a $22M pay day for him either. As someone said earlier.....there is a piece of this puzzle missing.

@Elizabeth Chuck, where are the trial transcripts? Did the State of NM offer any defense against the lawsuit? Are there depositions of County officials? Despite the lack of comment from the County, didn't they have to respond to the lawsuit? Has the record been sealed?

Excellent questions, there.

OMFG people. This isn't about the other side of the story, per se. This was what a jury awarded this man. There shouldn't be some outcry that the county or the jailers are being treated unfairly. He was held for 2 years while being denied his due process. The case was taken to court, the charges upheld, and a judge and jury found for the man detained. That means that they found against the county for mistreatment. You want both sides of the story, there it is. As far as this story goes, the cops are the bad guys. He was arrested, never convicted of this DUI nor the auto theft. They knew of the auto being loaned to the detainee long before the 2 year detainment was over.

Read the story. Don't skim over it in your haste to leave your half-assed comments

Elizabeth - a little additional information from a Las Cruces local news source.

http://www.lcsun-news.com/ci_19817478?source=most_viewed

Not that he's going to read this, but if he does....I am so sorry this happened to you. What happened was disgusting & cruel & just despicable. The money isn't going to get you back those 2 years, but I hope you do something positive with it. I hope you get the care you need for your depression & I hope that whoever else is going thru this right now (& you know this isn't an isolated case) also get freed & their plight gets known.

Brian, thank you.

For all you posters who said he deserved this for driving drunk, he was never charged with a DWI. There was only a charge for open container. From the way the rest of the arrest was handled. I'm going to say that it wasn't opened until the cops broke the seal. Cops did the same thing to my sister and brother in law. They had a bottle of tequila they had just purchased in the car. The cops opened it, saying they were checking it to make sure it was actually tequila and not some kind of illegal drug, then charged them with open container when they were booked. Lying bastards.

For all you posters who said he deserved this for driving drunk, he was never charged with a DWI. There was only a charge for open container.

Wrong. While he did NOT deserve the treatment he received...he WAS charged w/ BOTH DWI and open container.

Form the post you just thanked Brian for:

Stephen R. Slevin, now 57, of Virginia Beach, Va., was charged in August, 2005,
with possession of a stolen vehicle, aggravated driving while under the
influence, driving with a suspended license, possession of an open container of
alcohol in a vehicle and improper use of registration, according to court
records.

Instead of giving this guy 22 million dollars I think he should get about 5 million dollars and then all medical expenses paid. The taxpayers should not have to be the scapegoat on this. Then I would prosecute all of those responsible for his unlawful incarceration and demand some jail time for those convicted. Obviously you also need new procedures to make sure that this does not happen again.

I mean really?? Someone said he deserved more??? First thing first. Don't drink and drive, no one will put you in jail for obeying the traffic laws. Since the rest of you with blood saturating your shirts from your bleeding hearts will not say it, I will! Being mistreated in jail, beat up, raped, killed or what ever, is a sad reality but why did he go to jail?? Ok, we forgot about that. If the idiot would have taken out your mom, sister or daughter in his drunken state on the road, would you still feel sorry for him?? If he was a face of a different shade would you even care, or would the responses be totally the opposite?

Exactly. Jail can be hell, but 95% of the time WE control our destiny to reside there. Now his 22 million dollar winnings just added to our debt, you and I will pay for it and I suppose everyone is happy right? Unreal!!

@Ed...if you weren't so busy pimping unnecessary ad homs about "bleeding hearts"...you might have noticed that the issue is NOT the crime Mr. Selvin was accused of...the issue is the UNCONSTITUTIONAL actions of the police and corrections officers.

Perhaps 22 months in solitary confinement at the county lock up...with no access to a lawyer... will help you better understand and appreciate our Constitutionally assured RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS?

If the idiot would have taken out your mom, sister or daughter in his drunken state on the road, would you still feel sorry for him??

Well, since you seem to like slippery slope logical fallacies...if it was your mom/sister/daughter that was killed...and the accused was set free because the arresting officers or corrections officials violated his constitutional rights...would you still be advocating your, "@!$%# the Constitution" rational?

Well slick willie, I don't understand pimping, maybe in your "hood" but I work for an honest living. Next, the police actions were NOT unconstitutional, for they arrested the IDIOT for breaking the law, it happens to be in their job description. Now, the jail staff, correctional officers, may have been wrong for their actions.

If you plan to edit someone's story, be sure of what you're saying BILLY. As far as what I think of a drunk driving idiot killing one of my family members, a prison sentence would be out of the question period. They should not have a chance to suffer in any way or form in jail. They should never see a jail. Any horrific jail treatment would be too nice. I think they should be double tapped center of mass, on the spot, after being found murdering someone while DUI. Does that make your "heart bleed?"

The U.S. leads the world in our ever expanding Prison Population Rer Capita, edging out Communist China and the Former Soviet Union. I read a comment here about a man who was convicted for Murder and during his sentance he told of how our Prison systems had went from rehabilitation to "wharehousing inmates." With the current trend of using Privatised Prisons , we can expect a shift from Rehabilitation to Human -Wharehousing. I recentlly read that one in four Americans between the ages of 18 to 25 can now expect to find themselves locked up in jail for crimes that did not exist 25 years ago. I was rousted out of my hotel room several years ago while sound asleep at 2:00 a.m. , my crime ? It was a simple speeding tickect which I had mistakenly went to wrong Courthouse as I wanted to contest the 2nd part of the citation where I was charged without posessing my Drivers Liscence. I had it but the cop grew inpatient as I looked in my glove box for a current insurance card. I was unfamilier with the area and mistakenly went to the wrong courthouse and was told by the Clerk of Court to show up at the next time court was in session. I was determined to do so, however my motel door was kicked in at 2:00 a.m., I found out later that the 2 detectives were checking people liscence plates and thats how I came to be arrested. It took 2 detective and 2 uniformed patrol officers to apprehend , me , the dangerous traffic offender. I was 1st put in a cell no larger than a small bedroom for 5 days with up to 3 other inmates, this cell was only designed for 3 occupants total. After a couple days without bathing and wearing the same clothes we began to stink. On the 5th day we finally recieved our jail uniforms and were allowed to shower. I was taken to a larger but cramped and over crowded cell , half full of Federal Prisoners who were there to be procsessed and afterwards sent out to Fedral Prisons. I was finanlly able to purchase a phone card, while a phone was always available to me I could only call collect and the way the phone system is set up requires the person on the other end to have a special account to recieve a collect call. I was actually in jail for 10 or 11 days before anyone knew where I was and what had happened, btw I never recieved my phone card but was able to send a letter. I went to court approximately two weeks after I was arrested, instead of an actual court hearing, I stood in front of a video camera and viewed the Judged on a t.v. screen. I was told before hand by a jail official "not to ask questions or talk to the Judge ?? I felt like I checked my Constitutional Rights at the jailhouse door when I checked in. The judge handed down a sentance that neither I nor the jail official was able to understand. The Judge by the way was retired and along with several others in the same position would travel along a circuit and I suppose hand more out unintelligable desicions so that in cases like mine they could protect themselves from handing down an improper desicion. I was locked up for 14 days over a speeding tickect. The lesson I took away from this ? Our jails are overcrowed, there are quite a few people in them that dont need to be there and I lost my faith in both the Police and Criminal Justice system. I also spent the next several years suffering from a self diagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Well slick willie

sure of what you're saying BILLY.

It's Widewille...not slick willie or BILLY. Reported as a CoH violation.

I don't understand pimping

Well, allow me to educate you and those in your "hood"...it's a transitive verb that means, 'to make use of dishonorably for personal benefit '. As in...you use insults against others to build yourself up.

I work for an honest living.

Good for you Ed. Good. For. You!

Next, the police actions were NOT unconstitutional, for they arrested the IDIOT for breaking the law, it happens to be in their job description. Now, the jail staff, correctional officers, may have been wrong for their actions.

Forgive me for confusing the issue by using the word, "police".

The Sheriff's Deputy's that arrested him work for the same Sheriff's Department which oversees operation of the County Detention Center. If you want (or need) to parse out specifically which Deputy's were at fault...be my guest.

The fact remains, his Constitutionally assured rights were violated by employees of the County Sheriff's Department.

If you plan to edit someone's story, be sure of what you're saying BILLY.

Seems we can add 'edit' to 'pimping'...under the heading of words you don't understand. I made no effort to edit the story or your post.

I think they should be double tapped center of mass, on the spot, after being found murdering someone while DUI.

And, I think the same punishment should be applicable to anyone advocating a "@!$%# the Constitution" mentality.

Does that make your "heart bleed?"

No, not at all. But I'm pretty sure that getting "double tapped center of mass" for advocating a "@!$%# the Constitution" mentality, will certainly leave someones heart bleeding.

Interesting story Hammer. I'm quite sure back in the 17th century, an individual would not go to jail for yelling at his neighbor either. Funny how the times have changed huh? Some would say that after emancipation proclamation, the south started using prisons and chain gangs as a quiet form of slavery after the cilvil war ended legal slavery. I'm sure that was not the case (sarcasm). Over crowding is a problem but think about it. Some brain saw where big prisons meant BIG business and today, the prison industry is quite a big business where a lot of money is made. We live in America where the need to feed the greed is what this country is built upon. Getting an ideal who I am yet?

Willie if you have been charged with DUI or something like that while driving in your hood, please forgive me. I had no intention to bring up hurt feelings from your past if that's the case. I do however fancy how you replied to my "muderous DUI suspect" remark, I believe you get my point after all. Good job

By the way Willie, I didn't understand your use of "pimping" because it's not a word. To "pimp," is a word, both noun and verb, depending on how it's used in a sentence. A pimp is a person who procures clients for a prostitute. "Johnny pimped Willie for Betty." Makes sense right? If you need help understanding what it means to "procure," please respond.

Ed, charging someone with a crime is not the same as convicting. Yes, they did charge him. What they did not do was allow him an attorney or a trial. Are you willing to go to jail for 22 months on a charge?

Willie if you have been charged with DUI or something like that while driving in your hood, please forgive me.

LOFL...WOW...Ed.

In the space of only two posts...you've devolved all the way from unconstitutional blather and blustering about "double tapping center of mass"...to ridicules speculation and desperate BS.

I do however fancy how you replied to my "muderous DUI suspect" remark,

And I fancy how you followed up your own slippery slope logical fallacy by ignoring the point and the context of my question....Ed.

I believe you get my point after all.

Getting your...@!$%# the U.S. Constitution "point" wasn't exactly a challenge... Ed. What's a bit more difficult to grasp, is why someone advocates such short-sighted blather via such intellectually dishonest means?

I didn't understand your use of "pimping" because it's not a word.

Wrong again...Ed.

Pimping is simply the present participle of pimp....a word that has a variety of different definitions and applications. Google is your friend...Ed.

For example...according to The Journal of the American Medical Association pimping is a Q & A technique used by attending physicians with medical students in residency.

On the upside... Ed...you did somehow managed to make it through two consecutive posts w/o completely bastardizing my username.

Good for you, Ed. Good. For. You.

They should not be allowed to appeal this. This is all just so wrong but then this is where this country is headed with the recent acts that have been passed. American needs to wake up quick. We should all be writing letters to their congressman demanding they get fired. Also, there are people who do drive drunk and actually kill someone who receive less punishment than this guy. You people that say he deserves this need to be locked up.

No one deserves to be treated like a rabbid wild animal 22cents, but I'm sorry, when you break the law and go to jail or prison, you never get the right to sign a contract stating you will receive fair treatment. It's Jail dammit! Staying out of there is the key, once you screw up and go in, they have the key. Simple enough right?

Where is the rest of the reporting??? What is the position of the people that head the jail, the local government, and the prosecutors? He obviously sued them to get the judgement, what was the defense presented by the county, or the jail? Did they just roll over and not appear at trial?

Yes, I was wondering the same thing. Are we just to assume that this man got arrested, spent two years in solitary confinement for no reason at all, had to pull his own tooth because nobody would help him and then was awarded 22 million bucks for his mistreatment? . . . something's VERY "rotten in Denmark" as the saying goes . . . my God, I thought things like this only happened in Macon County Georgia! . . . unreal!!!!! . . . where's word from the "other side" ??