Left a Quadriplegic Due to Beating by Guards

Quadriplegic inmate paralyzed in beating sues state Corrections department over injuries

A lawyer for a female inmate who was brutally beaten by staff at Lowell Correctional Institution and is now a quadriplegic is asking a federal judge to intervene so they can document the extent of her injuries in her pending lawsuit against the state.

Cheryl Weimar, 51, who has a history of mental illness and physical disabilities, is being cared for in a hospital in Ocala, near Lowell, the state's main prison for women and the largest women's prison in the nation.

The Department of Corrections has refused to let Tallahassee lawyer Ryan Andrews or his team take photos of Weimar since the Aug. 21 attack, first reported by the Miami Herald. 

“We’re allowed to see her but not photograph her,” Andrews said. “If she was in prison we would need a court order to take photos but she’s in a hospital. What is the security risk?” 

Andrews filed an emergency motion this morning with U.S. Judge Mark Walker in the Northern District of Florida seeking permission to take photos and videos of Weimar’s injuries. He noted that English television personality Piers Morgan was recently allowed in Lowell to interview inmates for a documentary on female killers.

"The hypocrisy of preventing access to document my client's condition with pictures and videotapes, is especially apparent when Piers Morgan was able to enter Lowell CI to film a Netflix special that fetishizes women killers, but pictures of my client who was brutally beaten by (FDC) employees is not permitted," Ryan said.

An investigation into the beating is under way with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as lead investigative agency and help from the FDC Office of Inspector General, spokeswoman Michelle Glady said. 

“We recognize that preliminary reports from this incident are concerning. We’re committed to examining all the details regarding this situation and ensuring appropriate action is taken,” FDC Secretary Mark Inch said.

Meanwhile, Glady said, the officers involved "have been reassigned to posts that do not have contact with inmates, pending the outcome of this investigation."

Information related to the incident is limited while the investigation is ongoing, she said.

"When the investigation is complete, the report will be made available to the public," Glady added.

As far as the lawsuit goes, the FDC hadn't been served yet and couldn't comment on pending litigation, Glady said.

Cheryl Weimar (Photo: Florida Department of Corrections)

In the lawsuit filed by Andrews Tuesday in the U.S. Northern District of Florida, the Aug. 21 attack on Weimar was graphically described: Four guards beat her within an inch of her life and broke her neck.

“She is now a quadriplegic because of the Defendants’ excessive use of force,” the lawsuit said. 

Her injuries are so extensive she can’t talk or move, Andrews told the Democrat. He had to resort to communicating with her via the alphabet because of a tracheostomy tube.

They are seeking damages that her civil rights were violated under the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The lawsuit also names Karl Weimer, Cheryl’s husband. He brings a claim for loss of consortium.

Cheryl Weimar has been an inmate since January 21, 2016, and was due to be released Feb. 9, 2021. She was convicted of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and sentenced to six years, 8 months and 28 days .

Weimar complained that she couldn’t perform her task assignment to clean toilets because she had a hip condition well documented by prison officials, and declared a medical emergency. Prison policy requires staff to call medical personnel once an inmate declares a medical emergency.

Instead, one of the guards got angry with her and a confrontation followed, the lawsuit said.

The confrontation escalated, and Weimar declared an "inmate psychological emergency," the lawsuit said. One or more officers slammed Weimar to the ground, beat her with blows to her head, neck and back, the complaint said.

After they beat her, the defendants dragged her “like a rag doll to a nearby wheelchair, allowing her head to bounce along the ground along the way,” the complaint said.

The complaint alleges the four officers dragged her outside the compound where they continued to beat her in an area not covered by surveillance cameras.

Besides breathing through a tracheostomy tube, Weimar is being fed through a PEG tube, and will likely require around-the-clock medical care for the rest of her life, the complaint said.

“This malicious and sadistic beating of the defenseless plaintiff… caused Cheryl Weimar to suffer life-threatening and permanent injuries,” the complaint said.

Evie's Story

Evie was incarcerated at Lowell C. I in Ocala, Florida.  She went in at 16 as a youthful offender but was charged as an adult.  

Update on Sadie

Hi everyone!

Sorry this update has taken so long but was busy advocating for my daughter and prison reform.

Last October Sadie got moved to Gadsden Correctional Facility in Quincy, FL.  This is a private prison and what a difference!  She got booted from Lowell because I was a pest : ).  Thank goodness.  Gadsden has tons of programs, an excellent rec program with a track.  Barbecues every once in awhile for the women.  Sadie has never seen anyone pepper sprayed or excessive use of force.  Guards are still guards-no respect for other human beings but this prison is light years ahead of Lowell.

It took awhile for Sadie to adjust because she was so institutionalized at Lowell and paranoid all the time.

She is in the service dog training program and teaches yoga.  I NEVER worry about her at Gadsden.  I can finally relax and sleep at night.

But things are getting worse at Lowell.  4 guards just broke a woman's neck and she is paralyzed from the neck down.  She was a disabled 51 year old woman.  She now has a lawyer.  The guards have, as of yet, not been charged.  We'll see.  Former inmates and families did a silent protest outside of Lowell a couple of weeks ago and another is planned.  They were on the news.

Lots is happening.  Lot of the abuse is being talked about in news articles and several representatives and some senators are pushing for criminal justice reform.  Baby steps.

Criminal justice reform is happening all around the country because the way we treat our brothers and sisters who are incarcerated is inhumane and unconscionable and as a nation and humans we should be better than that.

Me

Sadie and her dog Kiri

Updates and Unnecessary Death

Well, it's been awhile since writing.  I have been extremely busy being an activist and advocate for incarcerated women.  Always trying to rally the troops. Eventually we are going to organize a March for Incarcerated Women.

Nothing has changed at Lowell, the prison where Sadie is.  Lowell is the largest women's prison in the country.  It continues to be fraught with abuse, medical neglect and at times the harshest of conditions when the air goes out, the hot water goes out for weeks and now they have decreased visitation to bi-monthly.  There are many petitions and letters to Tally protesting this.  They say it is due to contraband from visitors when, in reality, we all know that most of the contraband comes in from the guards.

A young girl died their recently due to medical neglect and Lowell trying to cover it up.  Many women die at Lowell but you never know because there are no obits, no newspaper articles and no oversight.  Almost every incarcerated woman has seen a friend die from medical neglect at all the women's prisons in Florida.  I am inserting a letter from an inmate about the death of the young girl who died.  They told the family she died in her sleep.  The inmates have another story.

Sadie is doing well.  She still works canteen and is a beacon of light and hope for other inmates.  She always walks a fine line.  In prison you can go to jail on a whim and lose your gain time just because a guard may be having a bad day so you can never truly relax.  All the women I have talked to that have been out for years still suffer from PTSD.  One women recently likened it to being in battle.  She said your sleeping soundly and then your bed is kicked hard, lights come on and someone is throwing everything you own (which is not much) around.  They all say the clinking of keys causes them anxiety, having a police car drive behind them sends them into a panic.  Loud noises scare them.  And it goes on and on.  No human being should be treated like an animal robbed of dignity, self-worth and hope.


So recently a former federal PD and I have done a couple small public venues with statistics and information about inmate abuse.  People are always shocked and appalled.  Inmates truly are the lost and forgotten yet most of them will all get out someday and possibly be your neighbor.  They pay for the rest of their lives.  We shun them, judge them and don't allow them jobs or housing.  And yet we consider ourselves compassionate, empathetic and forgiving human beings.  If it's not your loved one in the abyss of hell not your problem-right?

We can learn a lot about ourselves when we look at the way we treat fellow human beings who made mistakes-just as we all have.  ALL OF US.  Until it happens to your loved one you will never understand unless you are a person of compassion, empathy and forgiveness.

About her death:

My Experience As A Mom with an Incarcerated Daughter

I thought that as time went on things would get easier but it never does.  To know that your daughter is in an environment where she is just "inmate" and there is such disregard for her as a human being wears on you even when you think it's not, or try to be positive.

I am also astonished and disheartened at the general public's response to the incarcerated-"they deserve bad food and to be treated badly", "they should not have gotten themselves in there", "they should have made better choices" and on and on.  God forbid that anyone of them ever made a mistake or a bad choice.  Believe me everyone is a bad choice away from being incarcerated with all the laws we have today.  Most are in for drug issues, mental health issues.  And the way the rules are you can be charged with a violent crime even though there was no violence.  I know many women, esp young women, in my daughter's prison who are "guilty by association".  They either did not know a crime was being committed or they knew and were afraid to tell but did not participate in the crime.  They are serving life sentences.  My daughter said that these are the women they need to let out.  So, that's how easy it is to get into the criminal justice system.  And if anyone thinks it cannot happen to them or someone they love, think again.  There are many many people who are incarcerated who are innocent because of prosecutorial misconduct, an uninformed jury and basically a broken criminal justice system. 

And then your sentence depends on the mood of the judge.  He or she could be having a bad day and you will receive a harsher sentence.  And then there are mandatory minimums for drug offenses that can be 10 years for a first time offense.

If my daughter was in an environment that was positive and focused on rehabilitation and helping these broken women make better choices and if they had programs that build self-esteem and self-worth and that continued upon their release I would be so much less worried.  Instead they are talked to with great disrespect, humiliated, degraded and then expected to be your wonderful, well-adjusted neighbor.

I could go on and on but I won't because I'm tired and at this point feeling pretty hopeless that anything will really change.  The women go in damaged and they come out more damaged and why we are not all outraged is beyond me. 

They shackle women during childbirth.  There is no compassion or empathy for women who are ill.  The medical in prison does as much as they can possibly get away with to not treat the women-"do no harm" does not apply to inmates that is for sure. 

That's all for now.

The Response to My Email

Ms. Carlin,

Thank you very much for your email and for the opportunity to respond.  Your recommendations are not taken lightly.  We frequently discuss similar topics and how staff/inmate interaction significantly impacts behavior.  We have several pilots lined up to evaluate this further and to place inmates willing to change, in environments designed to maximize their potential, both while incarcerated, and upon their release.    

Thank you again for your email.

We Have Been Busy and My Email

We are still trying to get into the blogger rhythm again.  Sadie is starting to write again to send it to me.  I have joined Fl-Cure, a prison reform organization.  Here is a copy of an email I sent yesterday to the warden and the higher-ups in Tallahassee.  I have sent about 300 emails since my daughter has been incarcerated (finally counted them).  Nothing has changed that much because, in reality, the guards are the problem and the lack of relevant rehabilitation programs..  There are a few nice ones, but most are not.  Below is the email and the link is at the bottom.

I am assuming DOC wants to reduce the high recidivism rates and to give inmates the opportunity to do well once they are released.

The article below lists all the reasons why former inmates do not tend to do well on the outside especially without a good support system.

My first question is why do the officers address the inmates as inmate instead of by their last name or at least ma'am and sir.  What is the rationale behind that.  That practice alone is demoralizing, psychologically damaging and in truth psychological abuse.  It gives the message that you are worthless and that you don't matter which gives the officers permission to treat inmates accordingly with verbal abuse and a lack of civility, empathy and compassion.  How is that conducive to rehabilitation and the reduction of recidivism? This may seem like a minor issue, but it is, in actuality, a huge issue.  Have someone call us by a derogatory term day in and day out and see how that effects us. 

I know I have sent articles about the prison system in Germany where they have a humane and rehabilitative approach to incarceration where the officers are well-trained, are mentors who mingle with the inmates and dine with them.  They have officers who are trained in how to calm situations down without violence or aggression.  So, it can be done.  And if Germany is able to do it, there is no reason on earth that we cannot begin to follow suite.

The only reason we are here on this planet is because of Love-to learn to love ourselves and each other.  We all make mistakes and hopefully we learn from them.  Inmates are redeemable and most of them are good human beings who made bad decisions mostly due to addiction issues or mental health issues. Their situation gives us the opportunity to practice empathy, compassion and forgiveness-attributes the prison system is lacking and that has to change if we truly want the recidivism rate to go down.  My personal feeling is after talking with other families and former inmates is that until the guards are trained better, are held accountable for their behavior and the inmates are not afraid to speak up for fear of retaliation or being placed in confinement, nothing is going to change.  

I know I must sound airy-fairy but I am speaking to the heart of each of you.  How would you want your loved one to be treated under these circumstances?  These are our brothers and sisters and we are all on a journey towards our Creator.  Life is short and our job is to make life better for each other which includes the inmates.  I have met a lot of former inmates and I am impressed by what good-hearted and decent human beings they truly are.  There are always those who will never learn or change but they still deserve out love and support.

And we need funding to actually create the relevant programs that will build their self-worth and self-esteem so they are confident in their abilities when they transition out.  We also need better pay and a higher standard for officers.

Sincerely,

Kathy Carlin

http://www.tgorski.com/criminal_justice/cjs_pics_&_relapse.htm