Hunger strike Briton is force-fed

A lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut says state prison officials have begun force feeding an inmate who has been on a yearlong hunger strike.

Bill Coleman is serving an eight-year sentence for rape. The 48-year-old British citizen began his protest on September 2007 because he says those charges were fabricated.

He had weighed more than 250 pounds but is now 139 pounds.

David McGuire, an ACLU lawyer, says that Department of Correction officials transferred Coleman last week to an infirmary and administered artificial hydration and electrolytes intravenously on Monday.

Mr McGuire, who is representing Coleman during his protest, says force feeding violates Coleman's constitutional rights.