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“There is reasonable cause to believe that the facility failed to screen for or provide adequate mental health treatment to inmates at risk of self-harm and suicide, in violation of the Eighth and 14th Amendments of the Constitution,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release.
“Inmates faced a heightened risk of self-harm and suicide due to the jail’s failure to provide medication-assisted treatment, where clinically indicated, to inmates experiencing unmedicated opiate withdrawal,” the release said.
After ditching plans to build a new jail, appointed and elected officials and union representatives in Cumberland County have been squabbling over a proposal to send inmates from the Bridgeton lockup to other counties, costing a huge number of jobs.
They also struggled with the COVID-19 outbreak, which hit all jail and prisons hard but particularly so at their facility.
The Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey began investigating alleged constitutional violations at the jail in June 2018.
The agencies then “provided the facility with written notice of the supporting facts for these alleged violations and the minimum remedial measures necessary to address them,” the Justice Department release said.
Although jail officials recently began providing medication-assisted treatment to inmates experiencing opiate withdrawal, “the funding for such future treatment remains uncertain,” the release said.
“The opioid epidemic continues to afflict communities across the country,” Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael A. Honig said. “By providing medication-assisted treatment to inmates experiencing opiate withdrawal, officials at jails and prisons can take significant steps to both combat that epidemic and protect the constitutional rights of incarcerated individuals.
“We have been encouraged by the cooperation of Cumberland County Jail officials throughout our investigation and their stated commitment to ensure the safety and constitutional rights of their inmates,” she added. “We look forward to continuing to work with them to resolve these significant concerns.”
Handling the case for the government are Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael E. Campion, chief of the Civil Rights Unit; Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Vassallo, deputy chief of the Civil Division; Mary Bohan, deputy chief of the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section; and Marlysha Myrthil and Curtis Harris, senior trial attorneys with the Special Litigation Section.
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