Washington state prisons ripe for COVID-19. Some inmates should get out early, lawsuit says
Inmates have sued the Washington state Department of Corrections, alleging it needs to do more to prevent a coronavirus outbreak in prisons.
“Due to the conditions under which inmates are held at prisons in Washington State, it is anticipated that an outbreak of COVID-19 will soon be seen, or may currently be underway, at one or more Washington State prisons,” the lawsuit says. “Cleaning at jails statewide has been woefully inadequate to kill virions that may be left on surfaces ... .”
The complaint, filed Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court, is brought by five people who are incarcerated. They argue DOC should be required to tell the court what safety measures it’s taking in response to the pandemic.
DOC said in a statement Friday: “The health and safety of our staff, those in our care, and the community is our top priority. ... To date, the Department of Corrections has three confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported by its employees, one reported by a contractor at the Peninsula Work Release and no confirmed cases among the incarcerated, those on supervision or those in work release.”
The agency has been updating those numbers and information about its response to the pandemic on its website. As of Monday, no one incarcerated had tested positive. Six tests were negative and 25 were still pending lab results.
“All DOC locations instituted an intensive cleaning protocol focusing on sanitizing high touch surfaces, increased personal hygiene, and posting of DOH COVID-19 and hygiene related materials in public areas and areas visible to the incarcerated population,” the website said. “Hand sanitizer was authorized in prison facilities for use by employees and contract staff, and are placed in areas where soap and water are not readily available.”
Prisoners have access to hand sanitizer in supervised places and access to sanitation products is free, the agency said.
The lawsuit gives this account:
“There is no evidence whatsoever that the Defendants have taken any action to clean jails, separate prisoners, or otherwise ensure that prisoners” aren’t exposed to the virus. ... Some prison guards have no bleach with which to clean surfaces, and instead are instructed to do so with soap and water.”
DOC should be required to report its cleaning procedures and to put a plan in place if the court finds the steps it’s taking are inadequate, the inmates argue.
They also say DOC should be required to give reasons why certain people serving time for nonviolent offenses can’t be released to electronic home monitoring. Specifically those over the age of 60, those with medical conditions that make them susceptible to the virus, and those with less than a year of actual confinement.
“In the event the crisis worsens, prison staff has expressed a concern that the system will be overwhelmed and there will not be enough staff to adequately staff all of the prisons in the state,” the lawsuit says.
Guards exposed without proper protective gear will need to be quarantined for at least two weeks.
Besides staffing, guards also allegedly said they’re concerned about visits being canceled, which prompted prison riots in Italy.
It’s almost inevitable that an outbreak will happen, the lawsuit argues, given crowding in the prisons and the way other illnesses quickly spread through them.
“A large-scale outbreak in one or more prisons in the State of Washington would completely break the state’s already fragile health care system,” the lawsuit says. “Prisoners and civilians alike would die due to lack of equipment and staff. ... It is a near certainty that there will be a large-scale prison outbreak of COVID-19 if prison conditions are not immediately reformed.”
The inmates argue the agency’s lack of action is “illegal and inhumane,” and that it violates the state constitution.
“Therefore, Plaintiffs ask the Court to order Defendants to, at a minimum, come before the Court to demonstrate that they are taking adequate safety measures ..., ” the lawsuit says. “Those measures should include, but need not be limited to, cleaning, prevention, and release of low-level detainees and those at most risk for contracting the virus on Electric Home Monitoring (EHM).”
This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 5:00 PM.
