State Supreme Court orders DOC to take steps to protect inmates, report plan Monday
The state Supreme Court has ordered the governor and the secretary for the state Department of Corrections to report Monday what’s being done to protect inmates in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The order Friday was in response to an emergency motion Thursday by Columbia Legal Services.
The court directed Gov. Jay Inslee and Secretary Steven Sinclair to “immediately exercise their authority to take all necessary steps to protect the health and safety of the named petitioners and all Department of Corrections inmates in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and to report to the Court in writing no later than noon on Monday, April 13, 2020, all steps that have been taken and will be taken and their emergency plan for implementation.”
All nine justices signed the order.
Inslee said in a statement Friday: “I was pleased to see the Court’s order, and on Monday we will show the Washington State Supreme Court the steps that are being taken and how we are moving forward to protect the health and safety incarcerated people and the DOC employees who work with them. As I mentioned yesterday, we are taking steps to protect the health of incarcerated individuals by focusing on early release of vulnerable populations, including nonviolent individuals who are due to be released within the coming weeks and months.”
Columbia Legal filed a lawsuit last month on behalf of five inmates at various state prisons, asking DOC and the governor to release inmates who are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus, and those nearing release. The Supreme Court is hearing the case on an accelerated schedule, and oral arguments are set for April 23.
The emergency motion this week also asked the court to appoint a special master to protect inmates at the Minimum Security Unit at the Monroe Correctional Complex, where seven inmates and five staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. The order did not appoint an independent monitor, but the court could decide to do so at some point.
Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud wrote in a concurring opinion Friday, signed by justices Raquel Montoya-Lewis and Steve González, that she would go further than what was ordered.
“... the emergency motion correctly recognizes that the circumstances presented here are extraordinary, and I believe this court should act accordingly,” Gordon McCloud wrote. “I believe that several different sources of law give us the authority, and the duty, to release the five petitioners who filed this lawsuit now.”
Nick Allen, an attorney for the petitioners, said in a statement:
“We at Columbia Legal Services, our clients and their families are extremely grateful that the Court has recognized the extreme urgency of this matter and that it appreciates the danger that COVID-19 presents to all people living in Washington’s prisons. Especially considering that the Department of Corrections has shown a resistance to testing individuals who have been exposed to COVID-19 but are asymptomatic. We look forward to hearing from the State as to how it will change its current practices and begin reducing the number of people in our prisons, which is the one public health action that all objective public health experts agree is essential in order to fight the coronavirus.”
This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 6:32 PM with the headline "State Supreme Court orders DOC to take steps to protect inmates, report plan Monday."
