TagPersonal Protective Equipment

two prisoner letters detail racially biased and unjust legal process during pandemic

People of color and those that come from low poverty is being denied the Humphrey law. It will show, that’s why the inmate population is growing fast at Santa Rita Jail....it seems like nobody is being released. It’s 85% of African Americans that’s housed at Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County – the new form of modern day slavery.

kitchen worker describes consistently expired, spoiled, and contaminated food; aramark workers purposefully failing to address these issues

I have seen our Aramark supervisor, Margarita, pull unused trays out of the garbage to be used on the line again. This concerns me because I try to keep things as clean and sanitary as possible. Margarita sometimes sees rat poop sitting on top of the trays. I have seen her dust off rat poop with her bare hands. I have also seen Margarita pull bugs out of the food, with her hands.

jail lying about amount of testing and not testing correctly leading to inaccurate results; only in compliance during inspections; retaliating against whistle-blowers

The most important thing is for them to know is that the jail is lying to people about how much they are testing. They are not offering the test to everyone. Since March 2020 they have not offered the test to every inmate, so not every inmate has been tested. They are not getting accurate results. They are not doing the procedures the right way.

prisoner describes consistent lack of masks, and is denied release despite high health risk and no violent past convictions

The inmate grievance response is “....Santa Rita can’t just let you out, you must be released through the courts.” So I asked my Public Defender regarding said issue, and she said the courts are not going to give me a 5-month-early release but she did state: Santa Rita Jail could give me an early release without a court order.

prisoner describes medical neglect and denial of testing for people with covid-19 symptoms, torturous conditions of infirmary and other abuses

Everyone in the hole had COVID-19. We know we did, even though we were all denied tests. They brought someone to the hole one day, and then took him back to his pod later that same day. But having come to that area where everyone else was infected, he was obviously exposed. Two days later, he was returned to the hole, showing symptoms of COVID-19. Who knows who else he may have spread it to.

deputy rocha “prancing around the entire jail, with no PPE or any precautions, and was exposing the entire jail all while denying he was sick”

They act like we are animals. We are all losing our minds crammed in our tiny cells for 23 hours a day, as if they are cages. We have only one hour a day that we can leave. The rest of the time we are stuck. It is torture. Now with COVID-19 on top of everything, we are being given death sentences. All this, without even being proven guilty.

prisoner describes harassment from deputies, denial of seizure medication, rotting food, feces in shower, mice and roaches, reckless exposure to covid

We just want help with COVID so we don't die. They're carelessly and recklessly exposing us to COVID .... It's life-threatening and it's not okay. It's like attempted murder. It's not okay. It's such a fraud to increase their budget when CA is so in debt right now.

people in jail “not being tested at all”; cleaning, PPE, and social distancing measures not being taken

I've asked nurses, Deputy Chong, Deputy Olson, and Deputy Gainer, but they say they don't do coronavirus testing and they won't give us any information or sick call forms. I've been sneezing and have a stuffy nose, but I don't know if they are symptoms of coronavirus because they won't test me. People aren't being tested at all. They're trying to keep things secret here, not letting everyone know...

prisoner reports lack of medical care and ppe after being hospitalized; unsanitary conditions, and inadequate legal support from public defender

The pain is not being in prison. The pain is being restricted and taken of something from you. Your right to move and breath, and just be. That’s the hurtful part. Not that you’re in prison, you can still read books. I’ve been in way more restricted areas and still be freer. I had way less and felt way richer. There’s food in there, bedding. It’s the loss of liberty. People not giving a fuck...

former prisoner tests positive for covid-19 and suspects he contracted it from medical housing unit in jail; ACSO denies emergency housing after his release

I believe that I contracted COVID-19 while in the OPHU of Santa Rita Jail, as that is the only source where I had contact with individuals who had COVID-19, and that the sheriff failed to take the necessary steps to protect me from contracting COVID-19, failed to do the required testing, and failed to take action, well within the sheriff's power and control, to even refer me to emergency housing...

after jail re-integrates symptomatic inmates into housing unit, prisoner tests positive and experiences extreme medical neglect

...I got Tylenol only twice. I was running a high fever, over 100 degrees and I had really bad headaches. I asked them for Tylenol and the nurse said to me, “The doctor said no Tylenol. We want your body to fight it off by itself.” And then the nurse closed the door slot and walked off. I never got any cough drops or anything for my cough. I asked for an extra blanket and the jail refused to give...

after surviving filthy cell, medical neglect, and no shower for 2 weeks, jail punishes covid-19 positive prisoner with solitary confinement for questioning placement in a non-covid housing unit due to assault threats from other prisoners who fear getting virus

On April 15, 2020, at 9:30am, the doctor came by to tell me that I would be finished quarantining that day. ...Around 11 a.m. or noon, staff let me out to shower, but the showers were still filthy — I considered them unusable. At this point, I had not showered since April 4, 2020. I also still had the same clothes and same underwear I had been wearing for over 10 days.

Learn how you can take action to demand more releases from Santa Rita to protect the health and safety of our community

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