Law firm asks Supreme Court to protect inmates from COVID-19 outbreak

The Washington Supreme Court should take immediate steps to protect inmates at a state prison, where COVID-19 has infected inmates and staff members, because neither Gov. Jay Inslee nor state Department of Corrections Secretary Stephen Sinclair “are willing to do so,” a nonprofit law firm said in a motion filed Thursday.

In an emergency motion, Columbia Legal Services asks the high court to appoint a special master and order Inslee and Sinclair to take action to protect inmates who live in the Minimum Security Unit at the Monroe Correctional Complex, where the outbreak has occurred.

The high court gave the state until 9 a.m. Friday to respond to the motion.

The motion was filed the morning after a disturbance at the state prison over DOC’s handling of a COVID-19 outbreak that as of Wednesday had affected six inmates and five staff. More than 100 inmates protested in the recreation yard and inmates also set off fire extinguishers in two housing areas Wednesday night, but no one was injured.

“The outbreak itself proves that DOC’s efforts at screening and effectively quarantining people have been disastrously ineffective,” according to the emergency motion from the law firm that advocates for low-income and marginalized people.

In a written statement, Inslee said: “Since the outbreak of this pandemic, I have been working with the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to develop a plan to keep incarcerated individuals as safe as possible, as well as to look at other options.

“We have also worked to balance the needs of incarcerated individuals with public safety and I have asked for what could be done to reduce the spread of COVID-19 throughout correctional facilities,” the governor said.

Inmates speak out

Several inmates in minimum security at Monroe spoke with The News Tribune Wednesday afternoon.

Dylan Downey, a 36-year-old from Everett, said he’s supposed to be released in 11 months.

“Everything that is going on here is absolutely insane,” he said.

He’s been putting a sock over the phone when he uses it. He has also been wearing latex gloves and made a make-shift mask out of a sock liner he uses with his prosthetic leg.

“We’re all seriously scared,” Downey said.

He said units where people have tested positive or appear to have symptoms are using the same yard and gym area as other units, at staggered times, and he doesn’t see how all the equipment can be sanitized in between.

“It’s impossible,” he said. “It would take a small army of people.”

He also said he’s concerned about cross-contamination from guards moving between units.

And he’s worried that some people who are still working in the kitchens had previously worked with people in quarantined units. He’s been trying not to eat the prepared food, he said.

Curt Hansford, 56 from Snohomish County, said he’s also avoiding the dining hall, and the gym, as a precaution.

“I didn’t get a death sentence,” he said.

He’s opting for oatmeal and Top Ramen from commissary, instead of the prepared meals.

“I’m running out quick,” he said.

His home is blocks from the prison, and he said that he’d feel safer there.

“There’s people that need to be locked up,” he said. “That’s a sad fact. I get that.”

But some people should be let out during the pandemic, he argued, and he suggested those in minimum security are good candidates.

“I have no control over this,” he said. “... I’ve got four kids and four grandchildren and I want to see them.”

Carmella Holt said her boyfriend, who is from Tacoma, is about two years from release. But the state could release the 43-year-old to her home much sooner, she said.

“He has somewhere to go,” she said. “This should not be a death sentence for him.”

She’s especially worried about the pandemic because he has health troubles, including respiratory problems, she said.

“I think they did get a bar of soap, which I’m happy about,” she said.

She’s protested with other families recently outside the prison.

Kevin Rollyson, from Whidbey Island, said he’s also worried about underlying health conditions.

“I’m 54, I’m diabetic, I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol,” he said. “I’m getting super concerned.”

He has 16 months left, he said. He had hoped to be sent to work release, and then do six months of electronic home monitoring.

“That’s kind of like a pipe dream at this point,” he said.

In the meantime, he said he’s been carrying a rag with bleach water on it to disinfect surfaces, such as the phones.

“We’re living in such tight quarters,” he said.

He said he runs the wastewater facility there and teaches wastewater trade classes, though those things are on hold for now.

“It’s just a beehive,” he said. “People are getting really stressed in here. We know that it’s just a matter of time. I watch the news.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 10:27 AM.