I for one am glad to see that inmates are going to sue due to the inhumane treatment received at the Snohomish County Jail. The ACLU-Washington has had a long-term investigation going on regarding this very problem. This new suit is only the beginning and for good reason.
I learned first-hand what goes on there. In February of last year my companion of 20 years, who was a disabled veteran on oxygen and a strict medication schedule, was sentenced to a night in jail on a third-degree negligent driving charge by the Cascade Court in Arlington. He had no outstanding warrants and had not had a driving ticket for years.
I brought up the fact to the judge who sentenced him, the bailiff at the court and the personnel at the jail that he needed oxygen and medication every four hours to keep his lungs clear. He spent his night in jail on a thin mattress on a cement floor next to a urinal and was denied oxygen and medication. He died a week later from pneumonia. One would think I would have reason to sue for this inhumane and ultimately deadly treatment. But the lawyer who represented him dropped the case, as he was not an “expert in suing government” and I could not find another lawyer in Everett to take the case for the very appalling reason that we were not married.
Ben Hays, who in his Oct. 10 letter suggests “public flogging,” and the Oct. 14 letter writer who suggested we send “them” to Japan as the solution, should spend a night on the cement floor next to the urinal and judge for themselves if the inmates’ constitutional rights are being violated. Death for a third-degree negligent driving ticket sounds like cruel and unusual punishment to me.
Arlington
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