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DOJ finds mental health care, overuse of isolation at Santa Rita Jail unconstitutional
By Lisa Fernandez
A special purpose cell at Santa Rita Jail. September 2019
DUBLIN, Calif. - The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division issued a damning report on Thursday saying that the mental health care system in Alameda County, and in particular, Santa Rita Jail, violate parts of the Constitution.
The report, which federal investigators began at the tail end of the Obama administration, also found that the overuse of housing incarcerated people in isolation, or what s called Administrative Segregation, is unconstitutional.
The Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment and requires jails to provide incarcerated people with adequate mental health care. People s rights are denied when jail officials remain deliberately indifferent to their serious medical needs, the report authors found.
Justice Department: Alameda County violates rights of mental health patients, inmates
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The mental health care of inmates at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin was the subject of a scathing Justice Department investigation that concluded on April 22.Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle
Alameda County is violating the U.S. Constitution by “unnecessarily institutionalizing” people with mental health needs and by subjecting them to “prolonged” solitary confinement in the county jail, the Justice Department concluded after a five-year investigation.
The Justice Department delivered its strongly worded findings to Alameda County and its Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, along with an attachment that summarized the ways in which inadequate mental health care traps Alameda County residents who need it in a cycle of jail and psychiatric institutionalization.
COVID-19 live updates: 7-day positivity rate drops to 2%, state health officials say
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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) The COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact across the world and also in cities across Northern California. The latest number of confirmed cases in the U.S. can be found at the CDC s 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the U.S. page. (The CDC updates the webpage on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.)
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