An obese Arkansas jail inmate has dropped his prisoner rights suit alleging jail officials serve meals so low in calories that he has been losing weight.

Broderick Laswell, who is awaiting trial in the Benton County jail for capital murder, filed a motion to dismiss June 24 which gives no explanation for why he no longer wants to pursue the much-publicized case. "Comes now, that the Plaintiff (Broderick L. Laswell) would like to drop all charges against the Defendant," it says.

But in a May 23 motion to amend his complaint, he indicated that he is hoping to be transferred to state prison to start serving his sentence in two unrelated Washington County cases.

The pleading also alleges that the jail disciplined Laswell on May 1 for discussing the size of meal portions with other inmates. "[The] guards have started to harass me alot now," he complained.

Laswell alleged in a pro se complaint filed April 23 that the Benton County jail's 3,000 calorie-a-day diet had caused him to shrivel all the way down from 413 pounds to a svelte 308 pounds, losing an average of a pound a day. “This is not healthy at all,” he protested.

The suit was always a long shot since Laswell would have had to show that his weight loss was an injury rather than, given his obesity, a positive boon to his health.

By Matthew Heller
7/7/08