Attorneys representing current and former inmates in San Francisco County Jail recently amended a lawsuit against the jail, adding scores of defendants steamed over frequent raw sewage overflows inundating their cells.
The tally of inmate plaintiffs reached 136 as of the Feb. 27 filing but, says lawyer Fulvio Cajina, has actually swelled to more than 150.
“We’re getting more and more almost every day,” he notes.
“When the raw sewage floods occurred, the Plaintiffs were able to observe visible pieces of fecal matter and used toilet tissue in the water invading their living areas, soiling the Plaintiffs’ personal belongings and causing the Plaintiffs to experience physical injuries,” reads the suit.
Over the course of roughly a year, the suit alleges, sewage overflows became a near-daily ordeal for the inmates in County Jail No. 4, on the seventh floor of the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant St. And, at times, they occurred up to three times a day.
“Additionally, when the raw sewage floods occurred,” deputies turned off the water for hours at a time, according to the complaint. “During these periods of no running water, the Plaintiffs were forced to hold their urine and bowels, causing extreme pain and discomfort for hours at a time.”
The suit stems from a much reported-on January 2017 incident, in which a sewage overflow at the jail trickled down several floors at the Hall of Justice and inundated the District Attorney’s office, triggering an evacuation. The suit alleges that a “trap” device was subsequently inserted into the plumbing at 850 Bryant to prevent the DA’s chambers from being soiled again — but, per the complaint, this device induced back-ups and flooding within the jail.
“The floods occurred in the middle of the day and at times in the middle of the night while the Plaintiffs were asleep, forced the inmates to wake up in the middle of the night to raw sewage, which they were forced to clean without proper safety equipment,” the suit alleges. “When the raw sewage floods occurred, on average, there was between a half-inch and an inch and a half of raw sewage which would flood the approximately 8’ by 20’ living spaces for the inmates.”
A mediation session is scheduled for March 26. This is a parallel suit to one filed in July of last year by attorney Yolanda Huang on behalf of seven inmates. But while that is a class-action suit, this one, originally filed in August, represents individual plaintiffs.
The defendants in this case include the city, Sheriff Vicki Hennessy, undersheriff Matthew Freeman, Chief Deputy Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, and several individual sheriff’s captains.
Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Nancy Crowley notes that Hennessy has long advocated for County Jail No. 4 to be replaced and has pushed diversionary and other programs to keep the number of inmates housed at this problematic jail to a minimum.
John Coté, a spokesman for the City Attorney’s office, said “The Sheriff’s Department always strives to maintain a safe and secure jail system. While old facilities present a unique set of challenges, the plumbing was fixed months ago.”
The attorneys for the inmates, however, point to a memo contained within a massive state Occupational Safety and Health Administration filing undertaken in the wake of the initial flooding incident. It reveals that, by November 2017, the city had identified a roughly $200,000 fix for the problem, but balked at sinking money into the crumbling Hall of Justice.
“It is not a cost effective way to solve the localized flooding issue for CJ#4 seeing that they are to be relocating in the next couple of years,” reads the memo.
So, Cajina says, the inmates were made to live in these conditions for another 10 months, until Sept. 11, 2018 — after the lawsuits had been filed. Cajina claims many of his clients were subsequently moved out of County Jail No. 4 at 850 Bryant to San Bruno, and some if not all of the fixes were, belatedly, made to the plumbing.
If he and his clients are successful, the damages could well dwarf $200,000.
“Knowing how to resolve it, they didn’t because it wasn’t ‘cost-effective,’” Cajina says. “This is the sort of case a city should settle. There is really no excuse for what they did.”
What is a Shame is that I’m in that picture and I’m struggling to the max and people are saying good sue, I mean congrats to those who wanted to win this thing but I want to say to all the l staff there at that unforgettable place thank you for raising me the right way my parents should have even though we always don’t agree. And to all those who know what it is to really not feel like shi* but we got through that .
Great sue…
It is important that lawmakers make sure that they do what they should be able to do to keep that jails safe.
Important to hear from Rachel Church for a first hand view.
In her article it mentions “76 days in County Jail. You can’t beg for drinks there. She dried out. She received treatment”.
Of interest is “received treatment”.
Was that in County Jail?
Was County Jail a functional positive overall?
Were there unreasonable health and safety issues?
Thank you.
You’re right guys…, it’s a darn shame that prison is not more comfortable and luxurious. In japan, the elderly are *trying* to get into prison to make their lives better.
It’s true that my frustration with San Francisco leadership and the loud progressive criminal apologists who support selective prosecution and all manner of excuses for the criminal class has warped my senses and made me just as evil as those I vilify for the ills they perpetrate on society. Such is another consequence of allowing a loud-shouting minority wing outsized influence on city government and the rules of (in)civility that govern us . It may win a battle or two, but it does not win the hearts and minds of the general populace. Rather, as many of the theoretically idealistic progressive policies do, it drives the majority further away… which is what happened in the last national election—and apparently what has stealthily happened to me on this screed against (rarely) jailed criminals.
I recognize your arguments and I will attempt to regain my compassion.
But then what to do when the inmates themselves are purposely clogging the very toilets they seek to flush? Should we just let them eat cake?
No ones clogging the toilets. Those are really old buildings and hardly ever get repaired.
County jail may be a hell-hole, but let’s not forget an important fact: Many of the people in county jail make life a hell-hole for innocent law-abiding citizens and the vast majority of crimes here in San Francisco — both violent and non-violent crimes — are never solved or even adequately pursued, leaving thousands of victims suffering, without even the satisfaction of closure.
Consider that very few criminals are actually caught in SF, then add to that a very a low charge / prosecution rate (only about 5% of serious crimes are prosecuted – https://sfist.com/2016/06/14/sfs_dwindling_arrests_and_criminal/ ), and a notoriously low conviction rate. Overall, punishment for crimes committed in SF is extremely rare.
By all statistical accounts, San Francisco criminals are getting away with crime in the city at a higher rate than most any other major U.S. city (prosecution rate for car break ins is less than 2% for example). FBI data show SF had the highest per-capita rate of property crimes among the 20 most populous U.S. cities in 2017– 6,168 crimes per 100,000 people or about 148 burglaries, larcenies, car thefts and arsons per day.
This likely explains why many criminals come to San Francisco from out of town to conduct their “business” here, but overall, if you’re unlucky enough to even get caught for one of many crimes you’ve committed in San Francisco, and actually end up in this SF jail, you should more likely count your blessings for all the crimes you got away with in this lovely city than to complain about a problem caused by the inmates themselves. According to a recent SF Examiner article, the inmates are intentionally clogging the toilets with clothing and towels and other items that everyone knows should not be flushed – “The more recent installation of the trapper hooks have prevented other floors from being impacted when items not intended to be disposed of in toilets (plastic bags, chip bags, fruit, forks, towels and articles of clothing) are constantly stuffed into the toilets,” Gavin said.
We are theoretically committed to the abolition of cruel and unusual punishment.
An essential humanist goal.
Going the down the Lubyanka road because you’re angry with the criminals ends up making you just as much of a perpetrator.
Besides – many folks are held in the county jail while they are presumed to be innocent as was Mr. Bice.
Our county jail degrades and dehumanizes and then there is wonderment why the recidivism rate is so high.
Pat,
There is no evidence that the harshness of the conditions of incarceration in any way prevents or mitigates the rate of crime, including property crime.
While I share your frustration with property crime, and think that the selective enforcement and procecution of so called ‘quality of life’ crimes is a grave mistake, there is simply no justification for inhumane conditions in our prisons. Human rights simply are not abrogated because someone breaks the law.
Regards,
-D
Uhhh … Yeah ….. Good luck on that.
I participated in the Peter Bice trial where sadistic deputies arranged for a wrongly arrested Mr. Bice to be placed in a cell with antagonistic cell mates for what turned out to be a near fatal beatdown.
Just for the fun of it.
Surprise – our “progressive” city/county is legally liable for almost nothing that happens to you in the county jail.
Mr. Bice had to sue the depraved deputies individually in civil court with very limited success.
A quick look at The Constitution reveals little rights for those incarcerated except for that privacy thing which has been adjudicated down to a private talk with your attorney. Duh.
Our county jails are hell-holes where you are lucky to come out without major bodily injury.