The San Luis Obispo County Jail must improve suicide prevention, lessen excessive force, and reduce unnecessarily isolating inmates after a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation found facility conditions violated amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
“We are encouraged by the improvements the San Luis Obispo County Jail has made since we announced our investigation, but there is still more that must be done to achieve constitutional compliance,” DOJ Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a press release.
The DOJ began examining jail conditions in 2018, notifying the county that it had opened a Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act investigation. Over the course of three site visits, DOJ representatives interviewed administrative staff, jail staff, medical and mental health staff, and prisoners.
“The county provided real-time access to the jail’s current and former electronic health records databases and policies and procedures, incident reports, prisoner grievances, video recordings, training materials, and thousands of additional documents,” the findings report said.
The county and the DOJ reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 16 after the investigation found that the jail allegedly violated the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the ADA that prohibit excessive bail and fines and cruel and unusual punishment. The jail also reportedly flouted the 14th Amendment, which protects the privileges of American citizens from being stripped away.
While the federal body acknowledged that the county has reformed its jail conditions to an extent since investigation began, the settlement agreement noted that SLO County disputed DOJ findings and denied all allegations of violations.
“After receiving the 2021 findings report, the Sheriff’s Office voiced numerous concerns regarding factual inaccuracies, investigation methodology, and conclusions,” SLO County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tony Cipolla told New Times. “Allegations of constitutional violations are inherently subjective, as there are no clearly articulated ‘constitutional standards’ for jails to implement.”
Cipolla added that the Board of State and Community Corrections always found the Sheriff’s Office in compliance with state standards and regulations for jails. The department also received certification from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care—an independent organization with published standards for medical and mental health care in jails.
“Although the Sheriff’s Office strongly maintains that it has never systematically violated the constitutional rights of incarcerated people, the settlement agreement is largely reflective of what the department is already doing,” Cipolla said. “By entering into this agreement, the Sheriff’s Office can direct its resources toward working collaboratively with the Department of Justice to continue the great work it is doing rather than wasting additional time and money in negotiations and/or litigation.”
The investigation revealed that six inmates died in jail custody between January 2012 and June 2020. Some changes went into place after 36-year-old Andrew Holland died after spending almost two days in a restraint chair in 2017. These included discontinuing the use of the restraint chair, accelerating the transfer of prisoners declared incompetent to stand trial to psychiatric facilities, changing protocol around inmates in safety cells, and more training for deputies and medical and mental health staff.
Still, gaps in medical care persisted. Prisoners have two channels to report medical concerns, but neither work properly, according to DOJ findings. It alleged that medical staff frequently overlook concerns made via sick call slips, and the jail routinely fails to give people grievance forms.
The report cited a 2020 monthly presentation for jail leadership about health care services, during which contracted firm Wellpath’s Health Services Administrator mocked the grievances using a meme. A presentation slide allegedly implied that grievances are a “nuisance to staff” through an image of the dowager portrayed by Maggie Smith in the British period drama Downton Abbey, which bore the caption “Stop whining and find something to do.”
Of the 20 total grievances noted on the slide, 18 were deemed unfounded. Five received delayed medical care.
“The jail also has blanket rules that exclude certain types of care for most prisoners, even those with chronic health conditions who might benefit from them,” the 53-page findings report said. “For example, the only prisoners eligible for double mattresses are pregnant prisoners in their third trimester. Thus, prisoners with conditions such as spinal fusions, scoliosis, or a fractured hip will not be prescribed a double mattress.”
The settlement agreement comes at a time when the DOJ is scrutinizing prisons and jails across California, Tennessee, and South Carolina. The federal government is also looking into juvenile justice facilities in Kentucky.
SLO County’s agreement will terminate in five years or less if the county complies with all its provisions to improve jail conditions.
Some of the steps include setting up a suicide review committee, maintaining a centralized tracking database to monitor use of force, and using incident reports to document why an inmate was placed in restrictive housing and when they were transported in and out of it. All modifications and improvements will be conducted under the assessment of a jointly selected lead expert.
“The county will provide to the lead expert and the United States a confidential, bi-annual compliance report detailing progress at the county, until the agreement is terminated, the first of which will be submitted within 180 days of the lead expert being retained,” the settlement agreement read. Δ
This article appears in Jan 23 – Feb 2, 2025.