ACLU files lawsuit against James T. Vaughan Correctional Center, DOC

SMYRNA – The ACLU of Delaware (ACLU-DE) filed a federal lawsuit in the United States District Court of Delaware on behalf of six incarcerated individuals at the James T. Vaughan Correctional Center (Vaughan) in response to severe constitutional violations during a coordinated, unprovoked September 2024 raid by prison officials, including members of the Delaware Department of Corrections’ (DOC) Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT).

Correctional officers and prison officials have a legal duty to refrain from using excessive force and to protect prisoners from assault. The lawsuit alleges prison officials beat plaintiffs, pepper-sprayed them unnecessarily, sexually assaulted them, and degraded and intimidated them, all without warning or provocation, in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution, DOC’s Use of Force policy, and correctional officer training materials.

The alleged misconduct includes physical violence, dangerous close-range use of pepper spray, unwarranted and illegally invasive strip searches, sexual abuse and humiliation, verbal and psychological abuse, including derogatory language and threats of further violence, and denial of proper medical care and decontamination procedures. Plaintiffs shared graphic first-hand accounts depicting the violence of the attack, as well as Vaughan’s failure to provide adequate care in the aftermath of the arbitrary and unjustified raid.

The Department of Correction declined comment on pending litigation.