The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) has failed to properly prepare for and respond to an avoidable coronavirus crisis at the Chesapeake Detention Facility (CDF) in downtown Baltimore, according to a letter sent today from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to Department of Public Safety and Corrections Services (DPSCS) Commissioner Jeff Dunn, and Calvin Wilson, warden of the facility.
As of February 1, 2021, one-third of CDF’s approximately 400 residents have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, since the start of the year. The letter asserts that the conditions at CDF are unconstitutional and demands immediate changes from DPSCS and the warden. The letter also identifies the danger to the greater Baltimore community posed by the outbreak at CDF, with staff members going in and out of a COVID hotspot.
“The health and safety of the individuals detained at the Chesapeake Detention Facility are at grave risk,” said John Fowler, counsel with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Even when this virus doesn’t kill, it can lead to debilitating lifelong effects. CDF was woefully unprepared for this crisis. If we have any hope of stopping the further spread of the virus, CDF has to act now.”
According to the letter, conditions at CDF violate the United States Constitution. Contact tracing of both residents and staff is insufficient; vaccines have not been provided for eligible residents; positive residents have not received adequate care; cleaning procedures are inadequate; and ventilation systems appear inadequate.
The letter states that in a matter of weeks, as a result of these inadequacies, COVID-positive test results spread from residents in two housing units to five housing units. Moreover, at least three residents who tested positive had worked in various places throughout the facility, including one on kitchen duty. At least 20 staff members have tested positive since the start of the year, too.
The letter demands that DPSCS and Warden Wilson immediately identify and isolate positive residents and quarantine residents with potential exposure and other safety measures.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law demanded that Dunn and Wilson respond by Thursday, February 4, 2021. Read the letter here.
