THE Department of Corrections is not delaying an inmate’s referral due to his ethnicity, Assistant Attorney General Leslie A. Healer told the federal court, referring to the lawsuit of Price Shoiter, which the government lawyer said should be dismissed.
Shoiter, who is serving a 10-year sentence for sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl, has accused current and former officials of the Department of Corrections of breaching a settlement agreement approved by the District Court for the NMI.
The defendants are former Corrections Commissioner Vince S. Attao, Corrections Directors Gregory Castro and Georgia Cabrera, and current Corrections Commissioner Wally Villagomez.
In his complaint, Shoiter alleged that Corrections has continued to deny him adequate medical care. Shoiter was 69 years old when he was sentenced in September 2016.
He said in July 2019, he was admitted to the hospital due to chest pain. A doctor recommended for him to see a cardiologist, but Shoiter was told that he could not be referred because he is a Chuukese national.
Shoiter, who represents himself, is asking the court to award him damages.
In her motion to dismiss Shoiter’s lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim, Healer said the defendants did not violate the inmate’s equal protection rights.
She said the plaintiff does not state that any defendant advised him that he could be referred since he was a Chuukese national, but Shoiter does state that the Northern Marianas Protection and Advocacy Systems Inc. advised him that he could not be referred.
Shoiter has not shown evidence of discriminatory intent or that anyone else was denied a referral due to ethnicity, Healer added.
“Although there is no date on the referral letter, defendants are not delaying his referral due to his ethnicity,” Healer reiterated.
As for the settlement agreement that Shoiter mentioned in his lawsuit, it involved him and 13 other inmates who sued Corrections in June 2018.
They alleged that Corrections failed to provide constitutionally adequate medical care, mental health care, dental care, and eye care to persons in custody of Corrections. The lawsuit sought remedies such as the development, on Corrections’ part, of a plan “to eliminate the substantial harm the prisoners suffer due to inadequate medical care, mental health care, dental care, and eye care.”
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona dismissed the lawsuit on Aug. 22, 2019, but retained jurisdiction for enforcing the terms of the settlement.
As part of the settlement agreement, (1) Corrections agreed to hire a doctor to treat Shoiter’s knee and shoulder pain; (2) provide continuing dental care including dentures; (3) schedule an eye examination within 60 days and provide any prescribed eye treatment; (4) dispense adequate medication on a regular and timely basis; and (5) give inmates prompt access to an on-site mental health professional.
