Jefferson Co. sued over jail conditions

Associated Press

SEATTLE — The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit over conditions at the Jefferson County jail, claiming they are "so far below acceptable standards as to constitute cruel and unusual punishment."

The ACLU’s 12-page complaint says health care staff are not available to inmates when needed, that a routine ban on psychiatric medication has resulted in seizures and panic attacks, and that inmates are denied basic shelter necessities such as running water and working showers and toilets.

"Jails aren’t supposed to be comfortable," said spokesman Doug Honig with the ACLU’s Washington state chapter. "But they have to have basic levels of humane treatment."

The lawsuit also contends the jail at Port Hadlock is overcrowded. Built to house about 30 inmates, it houses anywhere from 40 to more than 60 inmates at any given time, the lawsuit says.

The county’s deputy administrator, David Goldsmith, said the jail’s operations are based on the state’s jail standards commission.

"We’ve been operating the jail the same way over the past several years and haven’t had any prior complaints or problems," Goldsmith said Tuesday. "We’ll take a look at the allegations … and make sure we’re not operating outside the standards."

The jail was built to house 37 inmates, he said, and 12 work-relief beds were added later. Some cells can be double-bunked when the jail has more than 49 inmates.

A medical service provider tends to inmate health, and although checking documentation for prescriptions may result in occasional delays, Goldsmith said, "to my knowledge nobody’s been refused drugs authorized by a physician or by medical professionals who work at the jail."

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma seeks immediate remedy. It was filed on behalf of inmate Shawn Orndorff, but the ACLU hopes to certify the case as a class action on behalf of all current and future inmates at the jail.

The complaint was filed against Jefferson County, as well as Sheriff Peter Piccini; Carla Schuck, the county’s superintendent of corrections; and Steve Richmond, the senior sergeant and highest-ranking correctional officer at the jail.

Orndorff, who has been in the jail for about two months, was allowed only a "single thin blanket … insufficient to provide warmth" at night, and used shampoo containers as makeshift hot-water bottles to stay warm.

Orndorff also was repeatedly denied prescription medication for depression and sleep disorders, the lawsuit says. When jail officials reversed their position and allowed him some medication, he was placed in solitary confinement for 10 days for possessing contraband — the pills he was holding so he could take them at the correct daily times.

Over the past 10 years, the ACLU successfully has pursued litigation on similar grounds against the King County Jail, the Pierce County Jail and the Women’s Correctional Center at Purdy.

Copyright ©2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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