Human rights group sues Johnson County leaders, says jail withheld COVID-19 info
A national nonprofit is suing Johnson County leaders for allegedly withholding mail, some of which contained information on the new coronavirus, from jail detainees.
The Human Rights Defense Center filed a lawsuit Friday against the Johnson County Board of Commissioners and Sheriff Calvin Hayden, accusing them of censorship and of violating free speech rights.
Since July, staff at the Johnson County New Century Adult Detention Center have “refused” to deliver at least 58 pieces of mail from the nonprofit, including magazines, handbooks and brochures informing inmates of their legal and civil rights, the lawsuit said.
“In recent months, these materials have also provided incarcerated persons critical, time-sensitive information related to the global COVID-19 pandemic, including, among other things, how it is affecting jail populations, the symptoms of the disease, and steps incarcerated persons can take to avoid contracting and spreading the virus,” the suit reads.
In some cases, the jail staff sent the materials back, or kept the materials, but didn’t deliver them to detainees, according to the suit.
The center is asking that a federal judge issue a cease and desist against the jail in order to ensure that the material is delivered in the future.
The lawsuit accuses the sheriff and commissioners of violating the detainees’ right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment by not delivering the materials. It also said they violated the 14th Amendment by not informing the center that they weren’t distributing all the materials; the suit also claims the center’s right to challenge censorship was breached.
The jail has a mail policy in place that prohibits some mail from reaching inmates. This includes instructions for criminal activity, drug paraphernalia, blackmail, escape plans and gang materials.
According to the rules, “newspapers and magazines must be sent from the publisher and can be denied if found to threaten the safety or security of the facility.”
Of the rejected mailings that were sent back to the center, many were marked “refused,” “not approved” or “unauthorized.”
The rejected magazines included the monthly publications “Criminal Legal News” and “Prison Legal News: Dedicated to Protecting Human Rights,” which began including information about COVID-19 in April.
Lori Sand, a spokeswoman for the county, said the county does not comment on pending lawsuits.
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, which oversees the jail, did not immediately return a request for comment.
“For more than 30 years, the focus of HRDC’s mission has been public education, advocacy and outreach on behalf of, and for the purpose of assisting, prisoners who seek legal redress for infringements of their constitutionally guaranteed and other basic human rights,” the lawsuit reads.
The center, created in 1990, now distributes its materials to more than 3,000 correctional facilities across the country. The magazine, Prison Legal News, is sent to prisons and jails in all 50 states. Its subscribers include members of the incarcerated community, attorneys, judges and journalists.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,750 people incarcerated within the Kansas Department of Corrections and 396 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, according to state data.
