MDOC Attempts to Defend Abuse of High Profile Prisoner

Temujin in his younger years. Photo curtesy of Paula Kensu.

Temujin Kensu, arguably Michigan’s most infamous prisoner, was in downtown Detroit’s federal courthouse last week exposing the abuse and wrongful confiscation of property he experienced while incarcerated in Gus Harrison prison in Adrian, Michigan in 2014.

The lawsuit (Kensu vs. Borgerding) penned by plaintiff Kensu and his attorneys Keith Altman and Solomon Radner, asserts that his personal property including clothing, engagement ring, typewriter (which he relied on to do legal work), musical equipment and other belongings were improperly confiscated by staff. 

A witness for the defense, Paul Clee, former warden of Gus Harrison, testified he and his staff were not happy to learn that Kensu arrived at their facility with eight or nine large footlockers full of paperwork and personal property.

Three grievances submitted by Kensu indicated Clee was the person in charge who should have returned the non-contraband items to Kensu. Clee deferred the blame to the assistant deputy warden. 

While it sounds odd a prisoner can have property such as musical instruments, it must be noted Kensu has been imprisoned since 1986 and was ‘grandfathered’ under the old rules and policy.

The MDOC called several other witnesses and entered at least a dozen exhibits onto the record including a photo of an 8’ x 10’ segregation cage. Kensu testified he was stripped of his clothing for 24 hours and made to sleep on the hard floor for five days. 

In an earlier interview, Kensu told me, “They physically assaulted me. They starved me. They denied me medical care. Eventually, I wound up living in an actual wire mesh cage with no access to a bathroom.”

The alleged maltreatment caused Kensu to have serious medical issues. He told me, “They almost killed me in Adrian. I had inverted bowels, called sigmoid volvulus, so I was actually dying. They were refusing me medical care.”

When Kensu took the stand on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, he claimed he was forced to urinate and defecate in that cage while prison employees mocked him. He described being given unwarranted disciplinary tickets as further punishment.

Kensu testified he was stripped of his religious books, candles, linens, and crosses even though these items were returned to him as part of a different federal lawsuit which he won, claiming he could have those items. “They were all labeled Kensu vs. Cason and none of these items were contraband,” Kensu stated. “They knew this because they were clearly identified with federal evidence tags but the defendants took them anyway.”

Mark Roark, MDOC employee, took the stand and described the nutraloaf Kensu was given to eat while in the mesh cage. Nutraloaf is comprised of a mixture of that day’s food which was blended and baked into a loaf. Roark admitted he had never tried it. The ingredients vary. It could be mushy green beans, spoiled milk, bologna, beets, spaghetti, bread, sloppy joe mix, dry rice, grits, browned cabbage, kool-aid and a variety of other things. The prison systems in California, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York have banned nutraloaf as a disciplinary tool.

Kensu insists he was provided nutraloaf for retaliatory purposes and that it was meant to punish him.

The five remaining MDOC defendants named in the lawsuit will begin their testimony on Monday, August 1, 2023, and jury deliberations are anticipated to begin by the end of Tuesday, August 2, 2023.

Kensu has been in prison 36 years for a crime he vehemently denies committing. He is supported by several politicians, celebrities, multiple innocence organizations, and thousands of everyday people who believe he is wrongfully incarcerated.

To learn more about Temujin Kensu’s case and past litigation, you can start here.