Court Dismisses Case Against Jail’s Food, Accommodations

COURT HOUSE — The Cape May County Correctional Center is not a five-star hotel. It doesn’t serve a perfectly prepared gourmet menu, nor does it provide down pillows and Egyptian cotton duvets for its guests.
At least one former inmate wasn’t happy with his county accommodations, and decided to file a civil action for deprivation of rights against the jail in U.S. District Court.
In his lawsuit, Arsenio Aborresco, a 44-year-old man with a long criminal history, alleged that the conditions of his confinement at the jail between Aug. 5, 2009 and March 12 this year were unconstitutional.
For one thing, the food was bad, the inmate claimed.
Aborresco complained that he didn’t receive enough food, and the food he did receive was: served cold; did not include enough fruit; and included too many starchy foods like rice and noodles. He also said the jail didn’t properly season his food with salt or pepper, nor did it provide dressing with its salads. As for beverages, Aborresco described the facility’s coffee and juice as “nothing but colored water.”
Other conditions in the jail added to his discomfort.
During the winter months, the heat in the jail was inadequate, he said, noting that he slept in his clothes and wore a coat during the day.
Aborresco was also disappointed with his lack of freedom in the jail.
He complained that inmates were allowed out of their cells at 6:30 a.m., but bright lights disturbed their sleep at 5 a.m. From 1 p.m. on New Years Day until 8 p.m. on Jan. 2, Aborresco was locked in his cell without explanation, he said. Finally, he had no yard recreation from mid-November through mid-January.
Aborresco’s civil action was filed in February and was heard on the District Court’s June 24 docket.
According to the opinion, Aborresco was asking the court to declare that his rights were violated, to make changes to the conditions at the jail and to possibly award him money damages. He claimed his due process rights under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution were violated.
Not knowing if Aborresco was in jail awaiting trial or had already been sentenced, the court also considered his Eighth Amendment rights barring cruel and unusual punishment.
In a July 8 opinion, Federal Judge Renee Marie Bumb dismissed the lawsuit, noting several problems with the lawsuit.
One technical problem regarding this relief, the court said, was that because Aborresco is no longer an inmate in county jail.
“A prisoner lacks standing to seek injunctive and declaratory relief if he is no longer subject to the alleged conditions,” the opinion stated.
Another technical problem was that Aborresco only named the jail as a defendant in his lawsuit.
“However, the Cape May County Jail must be dismissed from this lawsuit because it is not a ‘person’ subject to liability,” the opinion stated. “Because plaintiff does not name another defendant in this action, the complaint will be dismissed in its entirety.”
Regarding Aborresco’s actual claims, the court said two questions must be answered:
“Was the deprivation a sufficiently serious deprivation of basic human needs?” and “Did the officials act with a sufficiently culpable state of mind?”
The court found that Aborresco didn’t address the second question at all in his action.
With regards to the first question, “the Constitution does not mandate comfortable prisons,” the opinion stated. “To the extent that such conditions are harsh, they are part of the penalty that criminal offenders pay for their offenses against society.”
Under the Constitution, jailers must satisfy inmates’ “basic human needs — e.g., food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and reasonable safety.”
Regarding food, the Eighth Amendment requires that prisons serve “nutritionally adequate food that is prepared and served under conditions which do not present an immediate danger to the health and well being of the inmates who consume it.”
According to the court, the allegations don’t satisfy the first question, because Aborresco does not allege that the food was nutritionally inadequate or he suffered from malnutrition, weakness, fatigue, or illness.
“His biggest complaint is that the food was served cold,” the opinion stated. “However, cold food does not rise to the level of a constitutional violation.”
Regarding meals at the jail, Warden Donald J. Lombardo told the Herald that the quantity and quality of the food is strictly regulated and approved by the state.
“Aramark (the company providing food services for the jail) follows state rules regarding calories and food type,” Lombardo said. “The menus are approved by a dietician.”
According to its website, Aramark provides services to over 600 correctional facilities across North America, preparing over a million meals a day for inmates.
Lombardo also noted that the jail provides special meals for inmates with certain religious and medical restrictions.
“Likewise, Aborresco’s allegations that there was inadequate heat and recreation fail to state a constitutional violation,” the judge added. “Both grievances were of short duration, and Aborresco does not allege that he suffered any harm or injury as a result of the alleged deprivations.”
The court also found his claims about being locked in his cell for 31 hours during the New Year holiday, and the 5 a.m. cell lights were “meritless.”
“For the reasons set forth above, plaintiff’s Complaint will be dismissed with prejudice, in its entirety as against the named defendant, Cape May County Jail, for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted,” the opinion concluded.
When asked about Aborresco’s lawsuit, Lombardo said inmates were “entitled to go through the legal process.” He didn’t comment further.
Aborresco is no stranger to conditions at the county faciltiy. According to jail records, he has been a guest of the county 14 times since 1992, and most recently on July 15-16 as a remand from the Department of Corrections, likely for a local court appearance.
When the Herald first discovered Aborresco’s lawsuit, there was some difficulty in locating his prison records. It seems that Aborresco is not the inmate’s only name.
The Department of Corrections lists 19 aliases for this individual, including: Arsineo O. Abores, Arcenio Aboresco, Papito Aboresco, Arsenio Aborresco, Arsineo Aborresco, Gomez Aborresco, Papito Aborresco, Arcenio Aborresco, Popito Avorresco, Ernest Dias, Ernesto Dias, Ernesto Diaz, Ernesto Gomez, Jorge Hernandez, Gomez Martinez, Jorge Martinez, Arsenio Repito, Luis Rodregues, and Javier Soto.
The state lists his true name as Aborresco while his lawsuit was filed under the Aborrezco name.
Aborresco is now residing in Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, Cumberland County. He was given a five-year sentence on April 16 for one count of theft by unlawful taking. His current max release date is May 21, 2013, but he could be released on parole as early as this November.
It is unclear whether Aborresco likes the food in his current home.