A coalition of advocates along with a number of inmates have filed a class action complaint, requesting that a federal court order an inspection of Los Angeles jail facilities by a medical expert in infectious disease.
Dignity and Power Now and the Youth Justice Coalition filed the complaint in the Central District of California against Los Angeles County and Sheriff Alex Villanueva and are requesting a declaratory judgment that the defendants violated plaintiffs’ and class members’ constitutional rights by failing to adequately safeguard their health and safety in the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the lawsuit.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to the Southern California Record’s requests for comment.
“The situation in prison is a challenging one,” Assemblyman Kevin Kiley told the Southern California Record. “We need to make sure that we don’t have clusters of cases forming because of the conditions there.”
As of May 3, there were 53,616 positive coronavirus cases statewide and 2,171 deaths, according to the California Department of Health.
The writ of habeas corpus and complaint allege that Los Angeles County and Sheriff Villanueva acted with deliberate indifference and request injunctive relief that includes:
Take each incarcerated person’s temperature with a properly functioning and operated thermometer and conduct symptom screenings at all health care appointments to identify potential COVID-19 infections
Conduct immediate testing for anyone displaying symptoms of COVID-19
Require that all jail staff and incarcerated persons wear PPE consistent with CDC and LA DPH guidelines. Require that all LASD staff working in County jails wear PPE, including CDC-recommended surgical masks. If cloth masks are distributed, they must be laundered regularly. Provide more than one cloth mask per prisoner such that if masks break or cannot be laundered daily that prisoners have replacements.
The lawsuit lists multiple examples of alleged non-compliance with guidelines issued by the California Department of Public Health and the CDC. For example, when class member Jeffrey Livotto was taken to court for a probation hearing on or about March 26, he was transported on defendants’ bus along with dozens of other prisoners.
“Not a single one had masks on, and the person he was cuffed and chained to was coughing uncontrollably,” wrote Dan Stormer, attorney for the plaintiffs, in the case filed April 24.