Five inmates who are currently incarcerated in an Idaho prison are suing various alcohol companies to the tune of $1 billion, claiming they were not aware that alcohol can become addictive.
“I have spent a great deal of that time in prison because of situations that have arose because of people being drunk, or because of situations in which alcohol played a major role,” Jeremy Brown said in his affidavit. “At no time in my life, prior to me becoming an alcoholic, was I ever informed that alcohol was habit forming and addictive.”
Brown–along with Keith Allen Brown, Steven Thompson, Woodrow Grant, and Cory Baugh–says that his steady consumption of alcohol led to the crimes which got him sentenced to 20-30 years and that if he’d known what all that liquor was going to lead to, he never would have consumed it. Some of the companies involved in the suit include Anheuser-Busch, Coors, Miller Brewing, Pepsi-Cola, and American Brands, which owns Jim Beam. In a statement included in the suit, the inmates claim, “If they had not been addicted to the products sold by the defendants that they would have lead normal lives as productive members of society.”
While the men don’t have an attorney at present, a lawyer from Boise says they will have a hard time getting this case taken seriously.
“If you put these guys through depositions and you ask them ‘What do you know about alcohol?’ I think it’s pretty common knowledge that it’s addictive,” Filicetti said. “It’s well known to be addictive. It’s well known to be something that causes you to reduce your inhibitions and to do things you otherwise wouldn’t do.”