If only hard time were a little bit softer.
Two jailbirds plan to sue the city for a staggering $736 million, claiming that the mattresses in their cells are so uncomfortable, sleeping on them is tantamount to torture.
Ricardo Jacquet and Jeffery Benjamin, who were housed in the same Rikers Island unit this summer, filed the notices of claim in July, citing the Eighth Amendment.
They say the 4-inch-thick mattresses made by the Bob Barker prison-goods manufacturer cause “extreme back pain” and violate the constitutional amendment prohibiting “cruel and unusual” punishment.
“[We] declared said mattresses to be too thin for human being [sic] to sleep on it,” each of the men wrote in separate but nearly identical complaints.
Jacquet, 28, is facing indictments on two separate burglary charges — the first for a jewelry break-in at a Queens home in October 2013, where the suspect left blood on the floor after smashing a bedroom window to gain access.
He’s also charged with swiping pricey Movado and Joe Rodeo watches from a Canarsie apartment in March.
At a recent court appearance in Brooklyn, the lanky 150-pounder showed no sign of being in any kind of pain and declined to comment through his attorney on his pending $117 million lawsuit.
The Department of Correction knew surprisingly little about Benjamin, considering he spent at least six weeks on Rikers Island.
A spokesman originally said he was released Aug. 21 for time served, but another spokesman refused to provide further information, claiming Benjamin’s records were sealed. They both ignored questions over several days about the potential lawsuits.
But it’s Benjamin’s interesting valuation of how much his suffering is worth that accounts for the sky-high damages sought.
His claim seeks precisely $619,316,354.80 — including more than $141 million for “compensatory damages” and more than $440 million for “nominal damages with cost and fees damages.”
Benjamin could not be reached for comment.
While their cases, like their mattresses, might sound a bit thin, they’re not the first prisoners to sue over losing a good night’s sleep.
In February, a Connecticut man actually won a $12,000 jury verdict after saying that he had to bed down on a mildewy mattress lacking in stuffing.
A spokeswoman for the Bob Barker company — which has $1.4 million in prison mattress contracts with the city through 2016 — did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The company has nothing to do with Bob Barker, the former host of “The Price Is Right.”
