Justice Department opens civil rights investigation into D.C. jail conditions

The U.S. Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights investigation into conditions inside the District’s jails, the department announced Monday, Oct. 19.

The inquiry will look at whether the D.C. Department of Corrections, which runs the city’s detention facilities, engages in a “pattern or practice” of violating the constitutional rights of people held there. The department said it notified Mayor Muriel Bowser of the investigation.

What investigators will examine

In its announcement, the Justice Department said it had received numerous allegations about the city’s correctional facilities, including findings in a report by the District’s own auditor. The allegations fall into four categories, according to the department:

• failing to protect people in custody from excessive force;
• failing to provide adequate medical care;
• failing to keep conditions of confinement safe and sanitary; and
• failing to provide adequate nutrition.

The department stressed that it has not reached any conclusions about the allegations.

The investigation is being conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, a federal law that allows the Justice Department to investigate systemic violations of the rights of people held in jails, prisons and other institutions. The department noted that past investigations under the law at other correctional systems have ended in settlement agreements requiring reforms.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the department’s Civil Rights Division, said in the release that the Constitution protects the rights of everyone who is incarcerated, including people held in the nation’s capital.

A lawsuit over jail food

The announcement came days after The Washington Post reported on a class-action lawsuit in which detainees allege they were served meals containing mice and bugs at an aging District jail, FOX 5 DC reported. The Justice Department’s release does not mention the lawsuit.

District Times could not confirm any public response from the mayor’s office or the Department of Corrections as of Friday morning.

What happens next

The Justice Department did not give a timeline for the investigation or say which specific facilities it will visit. Its release said only that the review covers Department of Corrections facilities and that earlier investigations under the same law have produced settlement agreements and reforms elsewhere.

People with information relevant to the investigation can submit it through the Justice Department’s civil rights reporting portal at civilrights.justice.gov/report, the department said.