D.C. Council Reaches Agreement to Improve Conditions at Jail
Tom Ramstack
The Legal Forum, offering legal representation, language translation, media services.
WASHINGTON -- The District of Columbia Council reached a memorandum of understanding last week with the U.S. Marshals Service to improve conditions at the D.C. Jail.
The agreement was reached only after the U.S. Marshals Service circulated a letter to local and federal officials describing what they called unlivable conditions in the D.C. Jail.
It was the key factor in a court-ordered transfer of inmates to a federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania. The transfer was completed this week.
A surprise inspection by the Marshals Service in October revealed “systemic” mistreatment of prisoners. It included unsanitary living conditions and denial of food and water to some inmates as a punishment.
The Marshals Service sent its letter to the D.C. Department of Corrections, which notified the Justice Department. The D.C. government continues to investigate.
“To the extent that the Marshals found deficiencies, I want to be very clear that we will deal with those deficiencies so that we have a safe jail until such time that the District is able to build a new one,” D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said in a statement.
Recommended by LinkedIn
The city has put together an oversight team to work with a D.C. government watchdog group that advocates for incarcerated persons to figure out what reforms are needed.
The Central Detention Facility, also known as the D.C. Jail, normally houses about 1,500 inmates.
Jail officials transferred them to the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pa. at the rate of 100 to 120 per day. Newly arrested persons are being detained at the Alexandria Detention Center instead of the D.C. Jail.
Reports of poor living conditions in the jail set off a flurry of activity by defense attorneys. Some argue their clients should be given home detention while others say a move to Pennsylvania could interrupt the psychiatric help inmates receive locally.
“The notion that Lewisburg is an improvement over the DC jail points to the degree of human suffering occurring right now under the watch of the Mayor, the local judiciary and the US Attorney’s Office,” the D.C. Public Defender Service said in a statement.
For more information, contact The Legal Forum (www.legal-forum.net) at email: tramstack@gmail.com or phone: 202-479-7240.