William Herring

William Herring was a 22-year-old resident of Broward County, Florida. When he was booked into the county jail, he told jail staff that he wouldn't eat, drink or take medication because that is what God had asked of him, according to the lawsuit. He was placed immediately on suicide watch and put in a small cell that was locked for 23 hours a day. Over the next few weeks, while he refused food and water, jail staff failed to provide medication for his mental illness or seek out a higher level of care for him, the lawsuit alleges. Herring eventually spent a few days in a hospital, where he was treated for severe dehydration and mental illness. A doctor urged jail staff to send Herring to a psychiatric hospital, but he was returned to jail. According to a lawsuit filed by his family, “although Armor's records show that Herring was too weak to stand, they stripped him naked again, gave him a suicide vest to cover himself and locked him in a suicide cell alone.” A few days later, Herring collapsed. He died after five weeks on a ventilator.

The lawsuit filed Thursday accuses Armor, which is paid $25 million annually for health care at the county’s four jails, of intentionally not sending inmates to outside hospitals for treatment even when it is medically necessary because it cuts into the company’s profits. It says that five other inmate deaths in 2011 and 2012 were preventable, and reflect a pattern of putting “profits before patients.” Armor is responsible to pay up to $50,000 for an inmate’s care at an outside facility, according to the company’s contract with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. That means Armor has a financial incentive not to send seriously ill inmates to an outside health care provider, according to the lawsuit. .... ACLU challenged the jail over its conditions. ... Fort Lauderdale attorney Greg Lauer,

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