ACLU petitions Newsom, Becerra to reduce jail populations, freeze ICE transfers amid pandemic
The American Civil Liberties Union filed two lawsuits against California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Xavier Becerra late Friday, demanding a reduction in jail populations and a freeze on ICE transfers due to the coronavirus.
The pandemic has posed a continued threat to incarcerated populations, which are often unable to practice recommended precautionary health procedures in close quarters.
“Lacking infrastructure for physical distancing and without vigilant hygiene, California’s jails and juvenile facilities are at grave risk of becoming petri dishes for rampant spread of the virus,” one suit said. “Once the virus enters a jail, the movement of staff in and out means that walls and razor wire will not slow or stop the viral spread. Outbreaks at local jails and juvenile facilities threaten to tax the broader community’s health care system beyond capacity.”
The virus has already entered California prisons, with 167 inmates and 113 staff testing positive as of Saturday, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The California Institution for Men in Chino has seen the worst of the virus thus far, accounting for a plurality of the prison system’s cases with 82 inmates infected. The Chino facility, which reported the first inmate death due to the coronavirus a week ago, also drew criticism after releasing an inmate who later tested positive for the virus.
The state prison in Los Angeles County has also seen a significant outbreak, with 77 inmates testing positive for COVID-19, according to the CDCR.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has made some steps toward reducing inmate populations, such as halting transfers into state prisons for a period of 30 days, and granting early releases for 3,500 inmates, but the ACLU argued that not enough has been done.
“The state’s response has been inadequate to meet this emergency,” the lawsuit said. “Incarcerated people continue to reside in close, communal settings where social distancing is impossible. Soap, disinfectant, and protective gear are in short supply. Correctional facilities lack the resources necessary to screen for infection, isolate the sick, or provide necessary medical treatment.”
The lawsuit alleges that conditions in California jails violate inmates’ constitutional rights, and puts employees and their families at risk as well.
“Under these circumstances, the only reasonable measure to protect incarcerated people and the general population is to reduce the populations of county jails and juvenile facilities,” the lawsuit said.
The ACLU is seeking the release of an unspecified number of inmates — but enough to ensure that CDC guidelines can be maintained in California facilities.
The civil liberties group called on Becerra to direct county sheriffs to evaluate the proper capacity at jails and make releases according to medical need and the nature of inmates’ charges.
A number of county facilities have already done so, including two series of releases at Sacramento County jails for low-level, non-violent inmates with fewer than 60 days left on their sentences.
Additionally, it sought a moratorium on transfers from jails and prisons to ICE detention centers, which have reported 317 confirmed cases of COVID-19 amongst detainees.
“ICE has taken no meaningful action to reduce its detention center populations or to address the spread of the virus coursing through its facilities — effectively willing people in its custody to die,” the ACLU’s other lawsuit said. “As of April 15, 2020, ICE had released only 700 vulnerable individuals nationwide in response to COVID-19, out of a total of 32,309 detained.”
The ACLU suggested that ICE could release some of its detainees as well, in favor of remote monitoring rather than physical detention. The lawsuits allege that the ICE detention centers, like other correctional facilities, lack proper protective equipment and are overcrowded.
“This administration has been clear on our stance against abuses in immigration detention centers,” the governor’s press secretary Vicky Waters said in a statement emailed to The Sacramento Bee. “We call on the Department of Homeland Security to use the administrative discretion it has under federal law to work with public health authorities to implement appropriate actions to protect individuals in its custody, staff and local communities.”
The Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.