PHILADELPHIA — A jail inmate is suing a correctional facility, citing alleged violation of civil rights.
Derrick Houlihan filed a complaint on Feb. 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Montgomery County, Montgomery County Correctional Facility and others, alleging violation of his Eighth and 14th amendment rights to include subjecting him to use of excessive force.
According to the complaint, on Dec. 28, 2016, Houlihan -- rendered physically disabled and using a prosthetic leg since 1981 -- was incarcerated at defendants' correctional facility. Plaintiff claims while under defendants' supervision, they allegedly operated under a culture of violence and intimidation against the very inmates they were supposed to be guarding, resulting in a sense of unfettered power and demonstration of a lack of institutional control.
Furthermore, after the assaults had concluded, defendants allegedly continued to deprive him of the use of his prosthetic leg for hours at a time, causing him to sustain numerous injuries, the suit says.
The plaintiff alleges the defendants used unwarranted, prolonged and excessive physical beatings of plaintiff, a disabled man, with complete disregard to his safety and reckless or callous indifference to his constitutional rights.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment for compensatory and punitive damages, together with attorney's fees, and costs, interest and all other relief as the court deems just and proper. He is represented by Christopher Marzzacco of Marzzacco Niven & Associates in Harrisburg.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Case No. is 2:19-cv-00485-CMR.