Crime & Safety
Santa Rita Inmates Live In 'Squalor,' Lawsuit Says
Inmates said Dublin's Santa Rita jail were filthy, hazardous and inadequate in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Tuesday.
DUBLIN, CA — Five Santa Rita Jail inmates are suing the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, claiming rodent-infested food, filthy living conditions and excessive lockdowns, among other things. The civil rights lawsuit was filed Tuesday in federal court.
East Bay Times reported that inmates allege bathrooms are infested with swarms of insects drawn to the filth and inmates are only given cleaning supplies for 15 minutes every week. The lawsuit claims that people detoxing are grouped with the general inmate population, instead of in medical care, and may vomit or lose control of their bowels as a result of their condition. Excrement can seep onto the floors or person below, if the detoxing inmate is on the top bunk, East Bay Times reported.
“Because inmates have no access to cleaning supplies, this frequent situation contributes to the squalor, filth and unsanitary conditions inmates are forced to live in,” the lawsuit said.
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The Alameda County Sheriff's Office said the Santa Rita Jail is clean and denies the allegations made in the lawsuit, wrote spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly in an email. The jail would be shut down if those claims were true, he said.
Inmates also said there are insect and bird droppings are in the jail, inmates face retaliation for speaking up about jail problems, food is overheated and inedible, and inmates lack the training and gear needed to handle linens contaminated with human biohazards from the coroner's office, East Bay Times reported.
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Kelly said inmates are not forced to work — they either commit to work through the court or volunteer.
Some inmates suing the sheriff's office are currently housed at the jail.
The lawsuit came a week after inmates initiated a six-day hunger strike over jail conditions. Yolanda Huang, the attorney representing the inmates, estimated that as many as 500 inmates participated, though the Sheriff's Office estimated about 100 inmates were involved.
The lawsuit asks for a jury trial.
Read more at the East Bay Times site.
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