- A federal appellate court overturned a
Miami judge's orders to have ajail provide soap and other essentials to inmates in light of thecoronavirus outbreak, the Miami Herald reported. - Inmates at the Metro West Detention Center brought charges against the jail for its conditions.
- So far, 163 inmates in the facility have tested positive for the new coronavirus.
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A federal appeals court has overturned a Miami-Dade County judges order for a jail to supply inmates with masks, soap, and cleaning supplies, the Miami Herald reported.
Miami District Court Judge Kathleen Williams ruled that the Metro West Detention Center, which has been heavily impacted by the coronavirus outbreak must provide inmates with the necessary supplies to tackle the coronavirus. The US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, however, said the ruling went beyond the law.
The case started after some inmates at the center filed a federal lawsuit against the jail over its conditions.
Williams' ruling also said inmates and those who had contact with them had to be tested for the new coronavirus. Her ruling came after she denied to release the inmates who sued from the jail.
The detention center had 163 of its inmates test positive for COVID-19, the Herald reported. The county has tested 700 inmates across its three jails, with around 340 inmates testing positive. The inmates who were tested were given masks and cleaning supplies.
"To avoid contempt, then, [the jails] must allocate limited testing resources to Metro West at the expense of other county facilities," the appellate judges ruled, according to the Herald. "All the while, the district court has tasked itself with overseeing the steps the defendants are taking to 'ensure additional social distancing safeguards,' even though it acknowledges that social distancing is 'impossible' at the current inmate population level. In short, the district court assumed the role of 'super-warden.'"
While the appeal may overturn Williams' order, it still allows for litigation between the jail and the inmates who filed the lawsuit.
Judges overturned Williams' order in a 2-1 ruling, the Herald reported.
"In large measure, the injunction transfers the power to administer the Metro West facility in the midst of the pandemic from public officials to the district court," Judges William Branch and Elizabeth Pryor wrote, according to the Herald. "The injunction hamstrings [corrections] officials with years of experience running correctional facilities, and the elected officials they report to, from acting with dispatch to respond to this unprecedented pandemic."
The dissenting judge said he didn't see any "abuse of discretion" in the Williams' ruling.