BALTIMORE — After it failed to provide public records, the state corrections agency has agreed to pay more than $300,000 to a Baltimore civil rights firm representing the family of a man who died of dehydration in jail.
Lamont Mealy died July 5, 2023 while incarcerated at the state’s Western Correctional Institution; the state’s medical examiner found he died from dehydration. A witness letter alleges Mealy went without water for more than a week and guards taunted him over his thirst.
To investigate the circumstances around Mealy’s death, lawyers for his family filed a public records lawsuit seeking an array of documents, including video footage of the cellblock where Mealy was housed, as well as emails from the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) employees…