Eleven men civilly committed to receive substance abuse treatment at a facility run by the state prisons department have filed a lawsuit alleging they are being physically abused and getting little to no treatment.
The men are represented by Prisoners' Legal Services, which filed the complaint on July 7.
They are being held at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater under a law that allows the civil commitment of someone whose addiction to alcohol or drugs poses a serious risk of harm. It's the same facility where the state's most dangerous sex offenders are held.
A lawyer at Prisoners' Legal Services tells The Boston Globe that the men's detention has been "traumatizing" and "humiliating."
A spokesman for the Department of Correction said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
