A federal judge has ordered Philadelphia to clean up its jails after failing to comply with a class-action lawsuit filed in 2022 on behalf of incarcerated people, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The city must pay $25 million and address its staff shortages and “inhumane conditions”. The jails are about 55% staffed, which has led to inmates being frequently locked in their cells “for days on end” as the jail population has grown in recent weeks to its highest level in three years (around 4,800).
A concurrent uptick of contraband has led to drug overdoses and serious injuries via homemade weapons, according to the Inquirer. Criminal justice leaders have been tasked with deciding if some low-risk, medically vulnerable prisoners could be released, which could enable the city to close the Detention Center (pictured above).
The judge also ordered the city to pay its medical and maintenance contractors, to improve security, and to hire contractors to review its programming, the article said.
In related news, today the City of Philadelphia published a response to a recent Inquirer article titled “Drug deaths and overdoses plague Philly jails, raising concerns about plans to step up Kensington arrests“.
An excerprt:
The reporter made some valid points about the many challenges prisons face across the country –mostly due to understaffing, however, it failed to help the newspaper’s readers truly understand the processes and measures utilized by the Philadelphia Department of Prisons to ensure the safety of all persons struggling with addiction who are held in our custody. We were surprised and disappointed since we made our prison medical services administrator, Bruce Herdman, recognized throughout the country as a leading expert, available as a professional resource but also to spend time explaining our programs and process.
The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) and the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) cite the drug treatment programs of Philadelphia’s jails as best practices that should be replicated nationwide. The Inquirer did acknowledge that the Philadelphia Department of Prisons, “is known as a leader in providing medications for opioid use disorder,” but did not give the credit to our staff that is well-deserved.
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Photo: bop.gov