Wearing of the Green

A prisoner tipping the scales at 400 pounds is suing prison officials for $1 million for failing to provide him clothing big enough to fit him.

He served his eight-month term in the t-shirt and sweat pants he wore upon arrival, which he washed every day in the shower. He was humiliated by the lack of proper prison attire--a green jumpsuit--and says he will require “expensive” psychiatric care, his suit alleges.

“I wake up still thinking I’m in jail and washing and washing and never feeling like I can wash enough,” the man said. “I never felt clean in there. And I cannot feel clean now no matter what I do.”

The man was in prison for threatening a woman with a gun.

Source: Kathianne Boniello and Frank Rosario, “Big-house fatshunista suing over lil’ jail garb,” New York Post, January 22, 2012, h/t faces of lawsuit abuse, a project of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform