Listen to the report here
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California has filed a new complaint against the Tulare County Jail for its living conditions during the pandemic, alleging that the jail is failing to adequately test for COVID-19 and that its social distancing policy violates inmates’ constitutional rights. Filed last Thursday in federal court, the supplemental complaint is the latest development in a lawsuit originally brought against the jail last summer.
The initial complaint from July alleged that the jail didn’t provide masks to incarcerated people for months into the pandemic, and that new visitation policies ostensibly prevented inmates from meeting with attorneys. In an interview with FM89 at the time, Sheriff Mike Boudreaux acknowledged that inmates were not given masks until July, but denied that the jail’s legal visitation policy was unnecessarily restrictive.
Tulare County Sheriff s Office faces more complaints about COVID-19 policies
KFSN
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) New claims have emerged against the Tulare County Sheriff s Office over the management of COVID-19 policies inside the county jail.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California claims that poor policies have not protected inmates, leading to an outbreak in December.
A complaint about safety protocol last year resulted in a federal judge ordering the Tulare County jail - to implement a mandatory mask policy.
Now, the ACLU has tacked on 31 pages to its complaint.
The ACLU is representing new claims from inmates who say Sheriff Mike Boudreaux s solution to social distancing is to force some inmates to remain in their cells nearly the entire day.