Public Comment – June 24, 2025 – Mendocino County Board of Supervisors
Good morning, Supervisors,
My name is Joseph Hart, and I am the plaintiff in Hart v. County of Mendocino, currently pending in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, Case No. 1:25-cv-04501-RMI. While the County’s criminal case against Auditor Chamise Cubbison was dismissed—and she now proceeds with her civil suit—my case reveals even deeper systemic failures, including ADA violations, medical neglect, and sustained civil rights abuse while under the custody of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
For over four years, I attempted to resolve these matters through proper channels. I submitted grievances. I sent certified correspondence. I raised concerns in open court. But I was repeatedly ignored—until now when the federal courts have intervened and demanded the county to answer. My legal filings have been accepted, and the record is clear. While in custody, I endured repeated grand mal seizures, often waking up disoriented and injured—only to be denied basic care, including prescribed medications and MONTHS to receive even the most basic access to a nurse or physician. I spent months in solitary confinement, with no medical oversight, primarily as a punishment to my well documented Epilepsy.
This includes the period following a major arterial brain surgery at UCSF in June 2024, when I was transferred back to jail days after surgery—only to again be denied medication and treatment for a person as ill as i was. Even after being sent to Adventist Health for well documented seizure complications, I was returned to jail that night and denied medications, despite medical orders from UCSF neurosurgeons and Adventist physicians. These orders were known to jail staff and ignored.
These were not isolated events. From April 7 through May 13, 2020, I was forced to eat with my hands—denied utensils for 39 days—this after suffering a seizure in my cell. Correctional Officer Alex Brennan falsely claimed I ignored commands when in fact I was unconscious on the floor with what i layer was told was the half eaten meal tray on the ground. Rather than provide medical assistance, he issued an arbitrary punishment. I received no disciplinary hearing this is 30 days no utensils punishment. Sgt. Eldon Johnston extended the punishment 9 days without review. This was retaliation, not policy—and is legally cruel, degrading and unusual punishment as well as deeply in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I urge this Board to review the transcripts from Judge Carly Dolan’s courtroom, where I spoke directly pleading with help for my condition. It took MONTHS for me to be even seen by a physician, let alone a neurologist, was kept in solitary confinement and even had jail staff spreading false lies about me with the intent of other inmates to target me, either thru harassment or even when i had urine thrown at me . During this time, i was treated less than human, I never received an MRI or MRA, I wasnt even taken out of the concrete cell on multiple occassions when found un conscious and with head injuries. Nothing was done. Jan Cole-Wilson spoke over the course of multiple hearings about my deteriorating health, and submitted letters and calls on my behalf to jail staff. These facts are now part of the federal record.
I have formally requested preservation of:
• Surveillance footage and jail logs from March 30–November 4, 2020,
• Jail communications and grievance logs from October 2023, and
• Post-surgical records and surveillance from July 1–3, 2024.
These materials are under federal preservation orders and part of my Notice of Legal Evidence Preservation, already served on the County and submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Let me be clear: I served my sentence for a single, unfortunate event. I had no prior criminal record in Mendocino County or the State of California. But what I experienced in your jail—as a man living with a life-threatening neurological condition—was unconstitutional, inhumane, and unconscionable.
This is not about vengeance. It is about accountability. If this County continues to deny, delay, or destroy records, it will not just face a legal judgment It will probably face potential DOJ intervention, loss of federal funding, and serious damage to public trust as is already the case with Ms Cubbison.
I respectfully ask this Board to act in good faith and to protect the integrity of its institutions. I have offered a good-faith settlement that I am publicly request be reimbursed to the county by way of pension forfeiture for the responsible parties, rather than fund $450 hour Lawyers by taxpayers as has been the case before, including with some named in my complaint, I am offering the opportunity to have you release the full record, video's, jail records, medical records, Habeas , etc, that i filed, That is how you create accountability—by ensuring public officials understand that violating their oath has personal consequences.
And finally, I ask this: If this is how your County treated me—someone who has been trained in law and engineering speaks out, filed evidence, and now has the protection of a federal court- just imagine what has happened to all the others who were to ignorant of the law to fight back and have remained silent? How many more? What might be revealed through a DOJ grand jury or class action from others denied medical and or solitary treatment without due process?
Supervisors, this is your opportunity to lead with integrity—or to continue defending what cannot be justified, denied, or deleted.
Thank you, Joseph Hart - PLAINTIFF- Hart vs Mendocino , 25-cv-04501