HONOLULU — A judge ruled she won’t appoint a special master just yet to make sure Hawai‘i officials are keeping inmates safe from COVID-19, but said she is troubled by allegations in a lawsuit describing “egregious conditions” at prisons and jails that led to virus outbreaks at five of the state’s eight prisons and jails.
In a ruling issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Jill Otake granted class-action status to the lawsuit by inmates alleging state officials mishandled the pandemic and failed to implement its Pandemic Response Plan.
Lawyers for the inmates asked the judge to appoint an expert who could ensure the plan is being followed.
“This does not foreclose the possibility that a special master or another person with a similarly contemplated role may be appointed in the future, if appropriate,” the judge said.
Otake ordered the state to “immediately implement” and follow the plan, focusing on cleaning, social distancing, quarantining and other measures.
Attorneys representing the state have said they addressed COVID-19 safety concerns by adopting the response plan on March 23, 2020, consistent with guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
State officials didn’t immediately comment on the ruling Wednesday.
Otake noted descriptions in the lawsuit including an outbreak at one O‘ahu facility that led to 90% of the inmate population to contracting the virus, and dirty clothes from that facility where laundered by inmates and staff at another facility, which resulted in an outbreak there.
Other descriptions she noted include an inmate with lupus who contracted the virus but received little-to-no medical care and was left with serious kidney damage, no social-distancing or mask-wearing enforcement and crowded and sanitary living conditions.
Inmates said in court documents ailing detainees were kept near a bathroom flooded with urine and feces and their requests to use the bathroom were frequently denied, forcing them to urinate in their drinking cups.
“If the conditions described in the declarations submitted by plaintiffs continue, the risk of harm to all inmates is undeniable,” Otake said, adding that she found their statements to be credible.
Otake found it problematic that officials transported symptomatic inmates on an airplane from a facility with an active COVID-19 outbreak who told staff they were ill or whose infections weren’t confirmed because of late or no testing to a facility with no active COVID-19 cases that previously experienced an outbreak and then housed those inmates with virus-negative inmates.
“There is almost no clearer an example of complete disregard for the response plan and abandonment of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 between DPS (state Department of Public Safety) facilities and islands,” she said.
Otake also took issue with officials relocating inmates from a crowded area known as the “fishbowl” only after the plaintiffs filed a motion asking for the special master. She called the timing of the actions “suspect.”
She is requiring both sides to attend monthly status conferences starting next week with a magistrate judge. They must file reports a week before each meeting.
There have been no reported cases of COVID-19 at the Kauai Community Correctional Center.
Also on Kaua‘i, the state Department of Health Kaua‘i District Health Office reported seven new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s cases are all residents — three adults and four children. The source of infection for all seven cases is considered community-acquired. All seven are close contacts of previously announced cases. All active cases are in isolation, and close contacts are being identified, offered testing, and directed to quarantine. Investigations are ongoing.
“As we see a significant spike in cases islandwide, we ask our community to cooperate with our contact tracers who are investigating COVID-19 cases,” said Dr. Janet Berreman, Kaua‘i district health officer.
“Their work helps to alleviate the spread of this disease on our island. Please, if you are sick, isolate yourself immediately and arrange to be tested for COVID-19.”
The DOH variant report released confirms a rise in cases caused by the delta variant both statewide and on Kaua‘i.
“The variant spreads rapidly, and our best protection is vaccination. The time to be vaccinated is now,” added Berreman.
“We want to make sure that everyone is getting vaccinated, especially young people. This variant also impacts young people in a way that previous variants have not. Children too young to be vaccinated can be infected by unvaccinated family members. The best way to protect children from falling ill is by ensuring that everyone in the household who is 12 or older is fully vaccinated.”
Wednesday’s cases bring the number of active cases to 56, with two hospitalized, and 498 cumulative cases.
For more information on the county’s COVID-19 response, visit kauai.gov/COVID-19.
Do prisoners have rights? Oh I don’t know… maybe if you didn’t put yourselves in jail, you would be able to have more control of your circumstances.
They have rights? I thought they just catch the virus and die. I didn’t know they had any legal rights.