Toby Lamb Settles Case against Ohio Prison Guards for Brutal Beating

Settlement comes after powerful U.S. Court of Appeals decision in Mr. Lamb’s favor

Background

On April 6, 2018, Toby Lamb was subjected to a retaliatory beating by prison guards at Warren Correctional Institution (WCI). Mr. Lamb had been in an altercation with another guard earlier, and when WCI officers escorted him out of the area, they placed him in a painful escort position as they walked him outside into the night, where it was raining, and took him to a dark area with limited visibility. Along the way, they hurled racial slurs and threats and used Mr. Lamb’s head like a battering ram to push open a door. Once outside, where no one could see them, the officers attacked Mr. Lamb, who was handcuffed and defenseless. 

The officers kicked Mr. Lamb in the head, punched him in the face and ribs, and sprayed him in the eyes with OC spray. Additional WCI guards responded to the area during the beating, and one officer joined in to hold Mr. Lamb on the ground as another officer sprayed OC into Mr. Lamb’s face. Mr. Lamb was then finally lifted to his feet and taken to the prison medical unit.

Mr. Lamb was seriously injured and traumatized, but the misconduct did not stop there. After the violent beating, Mr. Lamb was transferred to Lebanon Correctional Institution (LeCI) and then silenced and prevented from pursuing grievances against these officers. Continuing this abuse, the State then exploited a federal law known as the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) in an attempt to have Mr. Lamb’s civil rights case dismissed, arguing that he failed to properly follow the grievance system’s rules.

Approach & Resolution

Civil rights law firm FG+G represented Toby Lamb in his fight to expose and seek accountability for this abuse and misconduct. We filed a civil rights lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in April of 2020, outlining the officers’ blatant use of excessive force and infliction of cruel and unusual punishment on Mr. Lamb. After the District Court dismissed the case, we filed an appeal, which resulted in the dismissal being reversed in October 2022. Mr. Lamb’s civil rights case proceeded and ultimately ended in a settlement with the ODRC. 

“Toby Lamb experienced what so many of our clients have reported to us over the years: misconduct and abuse by prison officials, followed by suppression of any attempt to report the abuse, but Mr. Lamb fought back anyway, and he exposed the truth about what happened to him. We hope that ODRC and its wardens and inspectors put an end to this type of abuse by prison guards and to the silencing of those who dare to report it.”
— Jacqueline Greene, FG+G partner
 
 
 
FG+Gjacqueline greene, toby lamb, civil rights, cincinnati