A federal judge hearing a class-action lawsuit against the D.C. Department of Corrections over conditions at the D.C. Jail during the pandemic was told Monday the jail population has declined as the city took steps to prevent an internal outbreak.
“Last week we were at the jail on May 7, and the population was 969 inmates, a significant reduction over the 1,020 who were there a few weeks earlier,” said Grace Lopes. one of two court-appointed inspectors who made multiple unannounced and unescorted visits to the Central Detention Facility and the Correctional Treatment Facility.
Lopes told the judge there were 364 inmates in the Correctional Treatment Facility on May 7.
“It had been, just a few weeks earlier, hovering at around 400 inmates,” Lopes said in a teleconference between the judge and lawyers in the case.
Efforts have been underway at state prisons and local jails across the nation to reduce inmate populations with the goal of limiting coronavirus infections.
The Public Defender Service and the American Civil Liberties Union alleged that inmates’ constitutional rights are being violated as a result of efforts to combat coronavirus.
Of particular concern to U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has been an inability for all inmates in isolation for COVID-19 to adequately confer by phone with their lawyers about their pending cases.
“This is still a problem, this is still, from my perspective, it’s still a problem,” said Kollar-Kotelly.
The judge was also told that despite coronavirus concerns, there have been some delays providing medical attention to inmates reporting falling ill.
“There are barriers to inmates in non-quarantine housing units submitting sick call requests, and when those requests are submitted, there are at times delays in the collection of sick call requests and patients being seen by the medical staff,” said inspector Mark Jordan.
But Jordan said medical staff conduct routine monitoring of inmates in quarantine and isolation.
“For inmates in isolation, the level of routine monitoring is very high and frequently includes multiple visits from both nursing staff and advanced medical providers on a daily basis,” Jordan said.
Lopes told the judge the inspectors found evidence of some progress in enforcing social distancing among inmates but noted there’s still not enough social distancing among inmates gathered in day rooms and common areas.
The inspectors are scheduled to submit their final written report to the judge on May 20.
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