The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Broward Sheriff’s Office, charging that conditions inside the county’s four jails unconstitutionally put inmates at risk of infection and death from the new coronavirus.
The lawsuit alleges that the jails lack basic sanitation, screening and social distancing for inmates. It wants the release of vulnerable inmates and urges the federal judiciary to require broader testing and improved sanitation and housing.
“The jail conditions put the prisoners at an unreasonable and unnecessary risk of serious illness, long-term damage to their health or even death if they get the virus,” says Anjana Samant, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project who was involved in the drafting of the suit.
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony “absolutely knows what needs to be done,” she says.
In response to the lawsuit, Sgt. Donald Prichard, a spokesman for the Broward Sheriff’s Office, wrote in a statement that the law enforcement agency intends to “vigorously defend this lawsuit.”
Pritchard said “extraordinary” measures were being taken to protect inmates, which “exceeded the guidelines of the CDC and the Department of Health, and have been effective.”
“Currently, there are only four inmates who are positive for COVID-19,” Pritchard added.
The lawsuit alleges that a low number of documented infections is a result of a severe shortage of testing of both inmates and staff. As of June 2, the four jails in Broward County housed 2,872 people, according to records obtained by the ACLU.
The lawsuit alleges several factors contributing to a potentially high rate of infection. It claims inmates are given very little access to basic sanitary supplies. In addition, crowded conditions within the jail make social distancing impossible. The lawsuit also alleges that a lack of personal protective equipment and the continued transfer of prisoners between facilities has created fertile grounds for viral spread.
“I believe the ACLU suit is certainly well founded. I cannot think of a worst place to have a loved one than the county jail,” says Howard Finkelstein, Broward’s chief public defender.
“They’re suppressing the numbers by not testing anyone,” says Gordon Weeks, executive chief assistant public defender.
According to documents obtained by the Broward Public Defender’s Office that detail the number of persons infected and tests administered inside the facilities, that have been 218 inmates, or less than 7% of the population, who were tested.
Of those 218 inmates, 52 had tested positive for the virus.
“Since May 19 we’ve had 52 inmates confirmed [infected], that number 52 hasn’t changed,” said Veda Coleman-Wright, director of the Broward sheriff’s Public Information Office.
The jails had tested 219 inmates as of Friday, she said. The ACLU lawsuit said the Sheriff’s Office had tested 216 inmates as of May 27, meaning three more tests were performed in the jails in recent days.
Many of the plaintiffs in the suit are medically vulnerable individuals with a high risk of mortality if infected by the virus, the lawsuit says. Among them are a 61-year-old man with AIDS, a 59-year-old man with cirrhosis of the liver and high blood pressure, a 32-year-old man with HIV, a 25-year-old with asthma and a 52-year-old woman with Hepatitis C.
The jail system has seen one coronavirus-related death: Alan Pollock, 64, a convicted sex offender and jail inmate, died at the hospital in early April after contracting the disease.
