NEWS

Jail lawsuit: Lack of mental care caused death

Doug Schneider
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
  • Lawyers say Joshua Anderson suffered bowel obstruction, lost 36 pounds while in county custody
  • Brown Co. Sheriff John Gossage says jail staff responded appropriately while Anderson was an inmate
  • American Psychological Association says 64 percent of jail inmates report “mental health concerns”

Surviving family members of a former Brown County Jail inmate have filed a lawsuit claiming he died after being denied mental-health care for behavior so bizarre that he regularly ate food containers, his jail uniform and human waste while in custody.

Joshua Dylan Anderson

Joshua Dylan Anderson, 43, of Green Bay died at the Brown County Nursing Home on Christmas 2014. His heirs allege in legal papers that negligence on the part of the county, a Wisconsin probation agent and a social services agency violated his constitutional rights in causing him pain, suffering and a serious medical condition that helped cause his death.

“The defendants’ conduct ... including the failure to provide adequate medical care, created the risk of serious harm and caused Anderson to suffer unnecessary physical pain and injury,” Seymour attorney Robert Sweeney wrote in papers filed in U.S. District Court in Green Bay.

The legal claim was filed on behalf of Anderson’s estate, represented by his former wife, Roni, and a minor identified in legal papers as “R.J.A.” It names as defendants Brown County, jail Lt. Phillip Steffen, state Probation Agent Kristin Nutter, the Wisconsin Mutual Insurance Co., Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin and its Division Director Tana Koss, and “John and Jane Does.”

The case is not slated for trial until September 2016, and not all parties have responded, though Nutter has denied the claims against her. Brown County Sheriff John Gossage, who oversees the jail, said his staff acted properly regarding Anderson’s custody, but said he could not discuss specifics of the case.

Advocates recently have clamored for more mental health care at the jail, which sits off Curry Lane on Green Bay’s far east side.

Members of the JOSHUA social-justice organization have lobbied the county board this summer, asking supervisors to allocate more money for increased mental health coverage at the jail. Among their concerns: a person with mental-health issues booked into the jail Friday evening might not see a professional capable of addressing the condition for several days.

Anderson’s estate’s claim says he had been at the Brown County Community Treatment Center in October 2013 because police determined he was a danger to himself. After four days, he was booked into Brown County Jail for a probation violation identified by Nutter, and soon began exhibiting “strange behaviors.”

“Anderson was continually eating foreign objects, including his uniform, smock blanket, string, milk cartons, medicine cups, plastic bags, paper and toilet paper,” his lawyer wrote, adding that Anderson “was often unable to communicate verbally with jail staff,” and “was frequently unable or unwilling to take his prescribed medications.” The claim says Anderson was placed on suicide watch in mid-November, and that guards used a “restraint chair” to keep Anderson from eating foreign objects.

The probation violation stemmed from a 2013 misdemeanor charge of THC possession.

According to the claim, several efforts to persuade authorities to send Anderson back to the Community Treatment Center were denied before he was finally moved to the facility in January. In that time, his lawyer claims, he suffered a bowel obstruction that required treatment at a hospital and lost 36 pounds.

Mental-health issues often present challenges for jails and the agencies that operate them.

The American Psychological Association, in a 2014 report, said 64 percent of jail inmates report “mental health concerns.” About 30 percent of the inmates at Chicago’s Cook County Jail suffer from mental illness, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says on his website, and some consider it the largest mental-health facility in the nation.

Anderson’s obituary published in the Green Bay Press-Gazette says he was a Northfield, Minnesota native and University of Wisconsin-Madison alumnus who had worked at Ticket King. It says his survivors included a daughter, a step-son and his ex-wife.

—dschneid@greenbaypressgazette.com and follow him on Twitter @PGDougSchneider