Bass v. Keebaugh

Darrin Bass had his mattress removed for a month for a dismissed misconduct charge. Without his mattress, he was forced to sleep on a concrete slab with large metal screws sticking out of it. The MacArthur Justice Center took on his case to fight against these inhumane conditions.   

Officials in Michigan’s Department of Corrections took away Mr. Bass’s mattress for a misconduct charge, and refused to give it back even after the charge was dismissed. For a month, Mr. Bass was left to sleep on a concrete slab with protruding screws that dug into his back. And because he was in solitary confinement, he was stuck sitting or lying on the slab (or floor) for nearly 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Unsurprisingly, these conditions resulted in extreme sleep deprivation and severe back injuries.  

Mr. Bass brought a lawsuit pro se raising an Eighth Amendment conditions of confinement claim and a First Amendment retaliation claim—arguing that his mattress was removed as retaliation for his filing grievances. The district court dismissed both claims with prejudice at the screening stage.  

The MacArthur Justice Center, alongside Josh Weiss at UCLA’s Prisoners’ Rights Clinic, represent Mr. Bass on appeal to the Sixth Circuit to protect the rights of Mr. Bass and others incarcerated in Michigan’s DOC.