A Connecticut inmate is fighting the state in federal court after officials were ordered to pay him $300,000 in a lawsuit over a beating he took from another prisoner, but gave him less than half the total after subtracting his incarceration costs.
Rashad Williams is serving a 30-year sentence for attempted murder and other crimes related to a 2002 shootout during a botched robbery in New Britain that killed a fellow robber and wounded a victim.
His lawyer argues government officials should not be able to use the state law on recouping imprisonment costs from inmates to reduce penalties for violating prisoners' civil rights.
State officials say Williams cannot legally seek the remainder of the award, which Williams won in a lawsuit against prison officials over his 2010 beating.
