Connecticut prison inmates who go on hunger strikes can be restrained
and force-fed to protect them from life-threatening dehydration and
malnutrition, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The 7-0 decision came in the case of 51-year-old prisoner William
Coleman, a Liverpool, England, native who stopped eating in September
2007 to protest his conviction on what he claimed was a fabricated rape
charge by his ex-wife. The court rejected Coleman's claims that
force-feeding violated his free speech rights and international law.
Coleman's weight dropped from 237 pounds to 129 pounds by October 2008,
and a prison doctor who believed Coleman was at risk of dying or
developing irreversible health problems determined it was necessary to
force-feed him by inserting a feeding tube through his nose and into his
stomach.
The first of what Coleman's lawyers say was about a dozen forced
feedings was performed on Oct. 23, 2008, after prison officials had
obtained permanent authority to force-feed him after a trial in Superior
Court. Coleman appealed the Superior Court judge's ruling to the
Supreme Court.
Coleman resumed taking liquid nutrition voluntarily in late 2008 and
returned to a normal weight, court records say, but the American Civil
Liberties Union of Connecticut says he went back on the hunger strike
last week.
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