Texas Inmates’ Covid-19 Class Suit Wins Them New Safety Measures

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice must implement additional policies to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at a prison for older and less healthy inmates, after a federal judge found their constitutional rights had been violated.

The department demonstrated a deliberate indifference to the medical needs of a certified class of inmates by recklessly disregarding obvious and known risks to their health and safety.

It also failed to implement a systematic approach to slow the spread of the virus within the prison, Judge Kieth P. Ellison wrote Tuesday for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

That 20 inmates have died and 40% tested positive for Covid-19 further supported the allegations, Ellison said.

Two inmates at the Wallace Pack Unit sued the TDCJ in March, claiming that cleaning measures inside the prison didn’t go far enough to prevent them from contracting the coronavirus. They alleged violations of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The inmates identified a pattern of policy failures, along with implementation and enforcement problems that constituted deliberate indifference and recklessness.

Inmates alleged a failure to commence mass testing before mid-May, use of defective tests, and inadequate social distancing and hand washing requirements.

The injunction requires inmates be provided unrestricted access to hand soap and clean towels, as well as hand sanitizer for a class of inmates with mobility impairments. The court also ordered, among other safeguards, sufficient cleaning supplies, new gloves and masks after prison activities, that social distancing be enforced, and that staff wear personal protective equipment.

Ellison, who previously certified a class of inmates and a sub-class of high-risk inmates, also granted class status to mobility-impaired inmates who said their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act had been violated.

The court declined to certify a third subclass of disabled inmates, finding common concerns raised by the group couldn’t be answered with a single remedy, Ellison said.

Winston & Strawn LLP and Edwards Law represent the inmates. The Attorney General for the State of Texas represents the prison.

The case is Valentine v. Collier, 2020 BL 372012, S.D. Tex., No. 4:20-cv-01115, 9/30/20.