KLLF Files Civil Rights Suit on Behalf of Prisoner Brutally Beaten and Hogtied by Correction Officers

On May 3, 2024, KLLF filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against several New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision guards on behalf of Khalil Jennings, who was brutally beaten by officers just days before he was set to be released from incarceration at Upstate Correctional Facility. The complaint, filed in federal court, asserts violations of Mr. Jennings’s Eighth Amendment rights.

Mr. Jennings’s ordeal began when officers sought to transfer him to a new cell at Upstate. When Mr. Jennings politely objected to the transfer for safety reasons, prison staff trivialized and ignored his concerns. Instead of heeding his pleas, Upstate personnel retaliated against Mr. Jennings for having the temerity to advocate for his own safety.

While a sergeant looked on, correction officers forced a shackled Mr. Jennings into the dangerous cell face first and threw him to the ground. As Mr. Jennings screamed for help, the officers beat him until he could no longer move. They then turned Mr. Jennings onto his stomach, unshackled him, and hogtied him using his own bedsheets. The officers forced him under the cell’s bottom bunk, where they left him reeling in pain.

When Mr. Jennings finally received medical attention, he required treatment for numerous injuries. He spent six days hospitalized, recovering from the injuries caused by the officers’ sadistic attack, including a broken nose, broken ribs, a fractured spine, a leak of fluid and blood around his lungs, nerve damage in his hand, and bruising and lacerations on his face. 

“The horrendous behavior exhibited by the Upstate prison employees in this case cannot be tolerated. It is an example of abuse that is far too common in U.S. jails and prisons in a further effort to dehumanize inmates. The officers responsible must be held accountable for their treatment of Mr. Jennings,” said KLLF’s Kyla Magun, who represents Mr. Jennings along with partner David Lebowitz.

Read a copy of Mr. Jennings’s civil rights complaint here.