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| City Welcomes End to Oversight of D.C. Jail |
| By Washington Post |
| Published: 04/07/2003 |
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A federal judge has ended the oversight of the D.C. jail imposed as a result of two lawsuits from the 1970s, a move that city officials said showed they were making progress in improving the treatment of prisoners and the facilities that house them. The order, signed March 28 by U.S. District Judge William B. Bryant, means that a 'special officer' of the court will no longer make regular inspections and reports on physical conditions at the jail -- the last of three major problems monitored by the court. Bryant's decision said little about current conditions at the jail, only that no action was necessary to correct ongoing violations. Mayor Anthony A. Williams called it a vindication of the corrections system, and a 'big, big, big win' for the city. But D.C. Council member Kathy Patterson spoke out sharply recently against the court's decision, saying the jail was still 'a total scandal.' 'Please don't mistake this for a stamp of approval,' Patterson, who chairs the council's Judiciary Committee, said of the decision. 'This is by no means a glowing account.' Patterson cited a report made this month by the court's outgoing 'special officer,' Karen M. Schneider. Schneider found that jail cells were poorly ventilated and sometimes too hot or cold, and that inmates were kept too long in cells where lights or toilets were broken. Schneider did not return a call to her office on March 27. Patterson said she planned to introduce emergency legislation next week to increase outside monitoring of the jail, perhaps giving the responsibility to the District's health department or to a nonprofit group. She also took issue with the city's announcement that the jail could house more than 2,600 inmates when renovations to cellblocks are completed. The jail now holds 2,325 inmates. 'They don't have enough beds for 2,300,' Patterson said, citing Schneider's report, which said new inmates must sleep on benches and floors if there no space is available. About 850 other inmates are housed in a privately run detention facility next to the jail. The two lawsuits, one filed by convicted inmates, the other by pretrial detainees, originally dealt with conditions at the old city jail, which no longer exists. The suits continued even after the current jail was built in 1976, with courts ordering reforms to deal with overcrowding, poor mental and physical health care, and 'environmental' deficiencies such as ventilation and plumbing problems. Since then, corrections officials said they have improved health care and relieved overcrowding. The court had ended monitoring on overcrowding and health care, so that only the environmental problems remained outstanding. Corrections Director Odie Washington said yesterday that the jail still has problems, but is in the middle of a $30 million initiative to renovate it. He said the court's decision recognized the improvements already made. 'Clearly, we have deficiencies, but they're not unconstitutional,' Washington said. 'That's the big difference.' |
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