Civil Rights Groups: Release Vulnerable Oakland Co. Jail Inmates

OAKLAND COUNTY, MI — Several civil rights and racial justice groups on Friday filed a federal lawsuit against the county and its officials calling for the release of medically vulnerable people inside the Oakland County Jail.

The lawsuit — filed by Advancement Project National Office, American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan (ACLU), Civil Rights Corps (CRC), LaRene & Kriger P.L.C. and the Law Firm of Pitt, McGhee, Palmer and Rivers in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan — claims county officials are risking the lives of inmates and staff inside the jail and the community at large because of a failure to respond to the threat of the coronavirus.

The lawsuit names Oakland County, Sheriff Michael Bouchard and Commander of Corrective Servies Curtis Childs.

A message to the county seeking comment was not immediately returned.

You can read the full lawsuit here.

“I am 42 years old.... I suffer from hypertension, cardiac disease, and obesity. I had a mild heart attack in 2015, and I still experience chest pains from time to time,” said Michael Cameron, a plaintiff in the case who is currently being held inside Oakland County Jail. “I am terrified that if I catch the coronavirus, I will not be able to fight it off. I worry about dying in the hospital with no family around me. I worry about who will protect my son.”

The lawsuit also asks the court to order Oakland County officials to immediately take measures to protect the safety and health of people in jail.

The groups filing the lawsuit said in a news release that on a typical day, jails provide inadequate health care and are places that cause serious harm to the people confined there. Those held inside the jail lack consistent access to soap, sanitizer, and are unable to practice social distancing, according to the suit. Families are outraged and local advocates are fighting for the release of the vulnerable population.

“We were horrified by the inhumane conditions including lack of adequate food, crowded living quarters, and lack of hygiene products to keep people safe inside Oakland County Jail during the pandemic,” said Earl Burton, a community organizer with Michigan Liberation, which is advocating for the families of incarcerated people inside the county jail alongside the national civil rights and racial justice groups.

The suit outlines conditions inside the jail, such as people who begin to show symptoms of the coronavirus, such as a dry cough, shortness of breath or a fever, not immediately being tested or quarantined, if at all. The lawsuit poses that staff are not consistently wearing protective personal equipment, including gloves and masks; people confined in the jail also face a shortage of gloves and masks.

“Being locked up in jail should not be a death sentence, but that is what people behind bars are facing in the Oakland County Jail and jails across the state because of this pandemic," said Phil Mayor, a senior attorney with the ACLU of Michigan. "At the very least, most incarcerated people who are pre-trial, medically frail, or whose sentences end this year should be released immediately.

"Meanwhile, Oakland County Jail staff must do everything in their power to protect people remaining in their custody by providing adequate soap and disinfectant, ensuring social distancing, and thereby ending their unconscionable retaliation against those attempting to protect themselves from the deadly virus."

Advancement Project National Office has filed similar suits in St. Louis, Miami and expects more legal action in Detroit and East Baton Rouge.