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'COVID-19 Swept Through Like Wildfires': ACLU Says In Suits On Behalf Of Lompoc, Terminal Island Inmates

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — "COVID-19 swept through the federal prisons in Lompoc and on Terminal Island like wildfires," the American Civil Liberties Union said Sunday in announcing the filing of two class actions against the facilities.

The lawsuits allege that prison officials at both facilities have failed to take measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as allowing for the transfer of prisoners with underlying health conditions to home confinement, in accordance with the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), which was signed into law back in March.

The suits also claim the alleged failings at these facilities violate the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that protects against "cruel and unusual punishments."

"While the rest of California took extraordinary measures to stop the spread of coronavirus, the Bureau of Prisons failed to take preventive measures as basic as isolating sick prisoners, allowing social distancing, or providing enough soap," said Peter Bibring, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California. "Their deliberate indifference to the risk of disease violates the constitution, and puts both those in prison and the surrounding community at risk."

The organization is asking the court to direct the prisons to decarcerate inmates who have underlying medical conditions that could lead to serious illness or death if infected with the coronavirus, among other relief.

The ACLU said more than 900 people in Lompoc have tested positive for the virus, and more than 700 on Terminal Island similarly tested positive, of which eight have died.

"The Court must intervene," the lawsuits urged to prevent the prisons from becoming the sites of a national tragedy. "For many, the actions and inactions of Respondents will lead to a death sentence."

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