SOMERSET, Pa. - An inmate at SCI-Somerset has filed a petition to have a Department of Corrections mandate regarding Timberland boots being removed from state prisons to be halted.
Jamal Washington, who currently resides at the prison facility, filed the petition April 30, claiming the DOC's mandate to not allow inmates to have Timberland boots violates prisoner's rights.
In the suit, Washington cites that temporary ban was put in place allowing inmates to purchase boots from the prison's commissary was put in place following the death of Sgt. Mark Baserman March 26. Baserman was killed after an attack by an inmate wearing said boots.
According to Washington, the mandate says that all inmates who are in possession of these boots must turn them in or send them home at their own cost by May 11.
"Out of haste to appease the Corrections Officer's Union and the outcry of its leaders to ban these types of boots, the DOC and its administration have failed to take certain factors into account," reads the suit.
The suit cites the factors as, the boots are necessary for the harsh winter conditions and the state issued boots do not properly protect feet, the boots are necessary for inmates with medical foot issues and the mandate deprives inmates of their personal property without due process.
According to the suit, combination locks and razors are used more frequently in inmate attacks, but those items are still available at prison commissaries.
Washington's suit was filed in the Somerset Court of Common Pleas and has since been transferred to the Commonwealth Court.
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