The Star Ledger published the following article on October 30, 2013. To read the full article, click here.
Victory, but at what cost: Prison inmate’s hunger strike could be lesson for Cumberland inmates
By Seth Augenstein/The Star-Ledger
on October 30, 2013 at 2:35 PMTRENTON — Inmates at the Bayside State Prison in Cumberland County are skipping meals to call attention to dissatisfaction with their new food vendor.
William Lecuyer might tell them that they face an uphill climb to effect change.
Lecuyer didn’t eat solid food for a year behind bars in New Jersey State Prison. Convinced his punishment for a drug-test refusal was unjust, he staged a solitary hunger-strike and challenged the prison system to produce evidence proving he refused the drug test.
He wasted away to half his weight, and his health deteriorated, even as lawyers battled back and forth about how far he could push the protest. Eventually, the prison promised him a new hearing in exchange for his pledge to start eating again.
And when he got that hearing this past summer, the long-time inmate was cleared on the main charge, according to him and his Princeton-based attorney, Jean Ross.
“I was found not guilty,” Lecuyer said in an interview in one of the prison’s meeting rooms, his face swollen from steroids and solid food. “For once, I have the evidence on my side.” Last week, he filed a request for an internal investigation of how the corrections system handled his case.
The not-guilty ruling came from a prison hearing officer on July 24, said his attorney, Jean Ross.
“It says what Will and his cellmate said,” Ross, the attorney said. “Why did it take two years to reach this point? The reason he did (the hunger strike) is because he didn’t get a fair hearing in June 2011.”