Organizations warn the Sheriff and Supervisors that if they don't take steps to prevent the expansion of COVID-19, they will have no choice but to take them to court.
A coalition of law firms and nonprofits representing an indefinite number of inmates in Los Angeles County have warned authorities that immediate action is needed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus spread within prison institutions.
In a letter dated April 16 and digitally delivered to Alex Villanueva, chief of the Los Angeles County Sheriff (LASD); to the same county supervisors: Hilda Solís, Ridley-Thomas, Sheila Kuehl, Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger, the organizations requested to apply measures that immediately minimize the risk of inmates, including releasing a certain number of people, otherwise they will sue the authorities in federal court.
"We are writing to tell you that we will file a lawsuit in federal court, unless the Sheriff's Department has indicated that it is willing to take immediate action … to minimize the spread of COVID-19 without the need for a legal fight," they said. the signatories on the letter.
Organizations that signed the letter include: ACLU of Southern California; Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai; Kaye, McLane, Bednarski, & Litt; American Civil Liberties Union; Civil Rights Corps; Youth Justice Coalition and Dignity & Power Now.
The urgent nature of the document, they explained, was due to the fact that every day that passes without the application of measures that protect the health of people in prisons, there is a high risk of being infected and in many occasions even losing their lives. , and all because of a policy of failure that has been applied so far.
The letter also outlines the efforts that have been made suggesting safety guidelines to be followed by the Sheriff from March 12 to early April; On at least three occasions, the organizations have appealed to the leadership of the Sheriff's Department and the county itself and the Department of Health, but so far, although some measures have been taken, these have not been sufficient to avoid continuous contagion not only from the inmates, but also from the staff of the institutions.
One of these previous efforts was the letter that was sent on April 3 to Bárbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health (DPH), where she is asked to provide sufficient and necessary guidelines for health and prevention of contagion. in prisons to the sheriff's leadership based on their judgment of the risk inmates in prisons run.
However, the guideline suggested by the DPH to LASD to comply with the requirements of the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) without being limited to it, both in terms of cleanliness, distance, safety and even priority in freedom of prisoners who represent greater vulnerability to the virus, but so far, it is indicated, have not been fully implemented.
They stress that one of the steps taken by the Sheriff was to release 20% of the prison population; however, this has proved insufficient to maintain the distance required as a security measure to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
In summary, despite the steps taken by the Sheriff's Department, they indicate that they have failed, so far, to protect the people who remain in their custody, which violates the rights established under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution.
That is why the organizations, in an energetic tone, released a final guide of 14 steps to follow to ensure the health of the prisoners, but if not answered by the county authorities no later than April 22, that is, Tomorrow, they said they would not think twice about bringing this lawsuit to the legal plane.
Among the main points established in the suggested guide is maintaining clear communication about the virus to all inmates, including low-literate and non-English speakers; perform the test on all new staff and inmates who are arriving at the prison system; conduct COVID-19 examinations on all detainees with symptoms of the disease; establish social distancing and provide all the protective equipment to the staff of the institutions, among other points.
If no response was received, the organizations said they would proceed to sue the Sheriff's Department.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) website, as of April 18, 115 incarcerated individuals had tested positive for COVID-19, of which 50 were from jails in LA and 59 were from the California Institution for Men (CIM), in San Bernardino County.
In addition, 88 jail staff workers had also tested positive, of whom 22 were from CIM and 14 from LA County jails.
Information from ACLU.org, the Los Angeles County prison system has 22,000 prisoners on average and is one of the largest systems in the world.
On his lasd.org website, the sheriff had posted that as of April 17, they already had 350 of the employees in quarantine, while 38 had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Regarding the prison population, 1401 prisoners were in quarantine, 15 had tested positive for the virus and 53 were isolated.
This story will be followed up, pending the response of the county and the Los Angeles Sheriff.
