New Mexico: Hold 'Dona Ana County Jail' officials accountable for severe mistreatment of Stephen ...

In August of 2005 Stephen Slevin was pulled over driving through New Mexico and arrested for DWI. Upon arrival to the jail, they think he's suicidal, and they put him in a padded cell for three days, but never give him any treatment. Nor did they give him a trial. Slevin said he never saw a judge during his time in confinement. After three days in the padded cell, jail guards transferred Slevin into solitary confinement with no explanation for 22 months. While in solitary confinement, a prisoner is entitled to one hour per day out of the cell, but often times, Slevin wasn't even granted that. The neglect was so bad that his toenails were growing so long that they curled around his foot, and fungus festered on his skin because he was deprived of showers. By the time Slevin got out of jail, his hair was shaggy and overgrown, his beard long, and his face pale and sunken, a drastic contrast from the clean-shaven booking photo taken of him when he was arrested two years prior.

No one should be treated this way. Our nations animal shelters treat its pets better than this human being was. Stephen Slevin has since justifiably been been awarded a $15.5 million settlement, however not one jail official responsible for this appalling behavior has yet to be charged with criminal neglect, fired, or disciplined in any matter what so ever. Lets send a strong message that this type of deplorable treatment will not be tolerated in New Mexico or any other state in our country and abroad. Please sign my petition.