Lawsuit sought over squalid conditions at Baltimore jail

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/lawsuit-sought-over-squalid-conditions-at-jail/33353804

BALTIMORE —Moldy showers and cells are infested with mice and cockroaches, toilets are broken for days and medical care is poor or nonexistent at a notoriously troubled Baltimore City Detention Center, the ACLU and Public Justice Center said in court documents filed in federal court on Tuesday.

Paperwork and pictures call conditions at the jail “dangerous, unconstitutional and deadly.”

The groups want a federal judge to reopen a lawsuit against the state of Maryland over what they say are conditions so substandard they bring “shame to this city.” Inmates suffering from serious illnesses such as HIV and diabetes are being denied life-sustaining prescription medication and the state has failed to cure well-documented systemic problems within the jail after entering into a 2007 agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, the court documents said.

The Freddie Gray case raises questions about how detainees are handled by Baltimore police. This new argument takes the next step, demanding change in how people are treated once in custody at the city jail.

A big corruption scandal from a couple of years ago put the Baltimore City Detention Center on the map with a gang leader claiming to run the place with such impunity he impregnated several guards while in custody.

Now, there are new complaints about how the jail is run. The complaints, filed by lawyers with the Public Justice Center, argue the state has failed to comply with a long-running federal court mandate to keep the place clean and safe.

In a 103-page motion filed Tuesday, the lawyers say the jail “remains a dank and dangerous place, where detainees are confined in dirty cells infested with vermin. The showers are full of drain flies, black mold and filth.”

Pictures show a rusted shower stall, what appears to be black mold around vents and a mattress in such bad shape, the lawyers argue, sanitation between users is no longer possible.

Lawyers contend the jail still lacks a proper laundry, so detainees have to improvise.

“(They) continue to do personal laundry in sinks, mop buckets and other containers that allow the spread of disease,” the lawyers said.

“The place is falling down over there,” said Debra Gardner, legal director for the Public Justice Center. “It has gotten to be a sickening game of chance surviving in the jail, and that’s unconstitutional.”

The lawyers cite a long list of cases concerning medical care in the jail or, as they argue, the lack thereof.

The lawyers said some detainees have died, including a man suffering from high blood pressure. The inmate was supposed to be on medication, but the lawyers argue, “The medical records do not show that he received that medication. There is not even a single recorded blood pressure during his June confinement. The autopsy indicated that he died of hypertensive cardiovascular disease.”

Inmates with disabilities are assigned to cells that can’t meet their needs and they are often denied health-care supplies, ranging from urinary bag and catheter changes to properly working wheelchairs, the documents said.

“It’s so bad one of our co-counsel has described it as one of three worst he has seen in the country,” Gardner said.

There were 43 incidents involving detainees making urgent medical visits related to excessive heat because their cells were not properly ventilated, reaching a heat index of 94 degrees in one instance, according to the motion. Over a three-month period, there were 26 instances in which broken toilets were not repaired for three days, far longer than the eight-hour mandate.

Stephen Moyer, secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said he was committed to making changes. The department noted the state has spent more than $58 million to improve the safety and security of inmates and staff over the past 10 years.

“I was 4 years old when this original case was filed in 1964,” Moyer said in a statement. “I am 54 and have only had four months to learn about these perceived issues. I have high expectations of my staff to change the way we do business.“

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