Jul 26, 2016 5 min read

The federal case of a state prison inmate who was the subject of an intensive, two-week manhunt in Washington and Greene counties nearly 40 years ago was dismissed with Pennsylvania paying $99,000 to Abolitionist Law Center and giving him single-cell status for the duration of his confinement.

Russell Shoats, 72, who also spells his last name as Shoatz, was convicted of the 1970 killing of a Philadelphia park policeman and sentenced to life in prison.

He sued the state Department of Corrections in 2013 in the Western District of U.S. District Court, alleging the department’s policies kept him in solitary confinement for more than two decades despite no recent history of misconduct.

He claimed he was being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, a violation of the Eighth Amendment.

His case was scheduled for a jury trial this month in Pittsburgh, but Magistrate Judge Cynthia R. Eddy signed an order of voluntary dismissal Monday that also states Shoats cannot raise the issue again.

The case was submitted to mediation in May, and last month, the settlement became part of the case record.

Shoats is not to be placed in a restricted housing unit “solely on his past disciplinary record or activities.” He also is to be given an opportunity to submit to a psychiatric and psychological examination and evaluation of the kind provided to new inmates, and he is to be provided with mental health services. If Shoats is moved to a restricted housing unit, the Department of Corrections is to try to notify his lawyer. The parties agreed not to “disparage” each other. The $99,000, according to the settlement, represents “the liquidation in full of all claims by (Shoats) including attorneys’ fees and costs.”

In a release filed with the court, the settlement was called a “compromise of a disputed claim … being entered into to avoid further protracted litigation of the matter” but contained no liability on the part of anyone or any defendant.

“We are glad we came to an amicable resolution to this situation,” wrote Amy Worden, Department of Corrections press secretary, in an email. “We are happy with the terms of the agreement and will continue to abide by them for the duration of Mr. Shoatz’s sentence.”

Shoats’ suit named as defendants state Corrections Secretary John E. Wetzel and Louis J. Folino, superintendent at SCI-Greene, where Shoats was previously held. Shoats was an inmate at SCI-Mahanoy, Schuykill County, when he filed the suit. Manahoy Superintendent John Kerestes was earlier dismissed as a defendant.

A call to a Pittsburgh attorney representing Shoats was not immediately returned.

Attorneys from the state Department of Corrections asserted in a previous filing while Shoats was a prisoner at SCI-Greene, he “had opportunities for interpersonal contact with (corrections) staff on a daily basis,” as he would with inmates from the restricted housing unit during exercise periods.

Inmates incarcerated in capital cases are permitted outside for two hours per day, five days per week.

The department also said Shoats received 30- and 60-day reviews and regular psychiatric consultations as required by administrative policies, but the department had to take measures to guard against another escape.

Shoats, at age 34, was serving his life sentence for murder when he escaped from SCI-Huntingdon. Authorities said he kidnapped a guard and his family who lived about a half-mile from the institution, stole a shotgun and hunting knife from their home, and forced the family to drive south and west.

The car broke down Sept. 27, 1977, near Cokeburg, where the family said Shoats tied them to a tree and headed into the woods. More than 100 law enforcement officers converged on southeastern Washington County and northern Greene County, conducting a manhunt that ended near Beallsville Oct. 11 after a carjacking in Marianna.

Shoats, who said he survived by foraging corn and crabapples and capturing rabbits and a turtle, was charged with kidnapping, recklessly endangering another person and aggravated assault.

At his arraignment, he called himself “a runaway slave. You can tell everyone the slave got caught and he’s going back to the plantation.”

On the order of Washington County Court, Shoats was sent to SCI-Farview for a psychiatric exam, and he also escaped from that prison. The Solitary Watch website described his absence from Farview as “brief,” but also said he contends his years in solitary confinement caused him to develop severe mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide.

In May 1979, Washington County Court dismissed its charges against Shoats, transfering jurisdiction to Philadelphia County so he could continue to serve his life sentence on the first-degree murder conviction.

In writings previously on view via the internet, Shoats called himself Russell Maroon Shoats, Black Liberation Army prisoner of war and a founding member of the Black Unity Council, a group that merged with the Philadelphia Chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1969.