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Lawsuit Over Poor Food as Punishment for Prison Inmates

Joe Gratz
/
creative commons

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A federal judge has refused to consider a ruling dismissing a lawsuit filed by a Delaware inmate over his treatment in prison, including repeatedly being fed an unpalatable food loaf given to unruly inmates.
 
The judge's ruling last week follows a federal appeals court decision in June upholding the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Kevin Dicken in 2010.
 
Dickens alleged among other things that he was "constructively starved" when placed on a "nutraloaf" diet for five consecutive weeks in 2009. Dickens said he lost about 60 pounds and suffered from frequent blackouts and low blood pressure.
 
State attorneys asked the judge last year to dismiss the suit for failure to prosecute, noting that Dickens had not filed any court papers since May 2015.
 

 

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.