March, 27 2009, 02:26pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Monica Hopkins, ACLU of Idaho, (208) 333-8240 or 344-9750, ext. 203; mhopkins@acluidaho.org
Stephen Pevar, ACLU national, (860) 570-9830
ACLU National Media Relations Office, (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
ACLU Seeks Immediate Improvement to Grossly Inadequate Conditions at Canyon County Jail
The
American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Idaho today asked a U.S.
district court judge to order officials in Canyon County, Idaho to
immediately fix a number of serious problems plaguing the Canyon County
Jail in Caldwell that have left a number of prisoners physically sick
and that threaten the health and safety of prisoners and staff.
BOISE, Idaho
The
American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Idaho today asked a U.S.
district court judge to order officials in Canyon County, Idaho to
immediately fix a number of serious problems plaguing the Canyon County
Jail in Caldwell that have left a number of prisoners physically sick
and that threaten the health and safety of prisoners and staff.
Today's motion seeking an immediate
order comes a little more than three months after the ACLU first filed
a federal class-action lawsuit challenging the indecent, cruel and
inhumane conditions at the Canyon County Jail.
"The dangerous conditions that have
been allowed to exist are so hazardous to human life that they must not
be tolerated any longer," said Stephen Pevar, a senior ACLU attorney.
"It is shameful that county officials have allowed such horrendous
conditions to persist."
According to the motion, the jail
has been overcrowded for more than a decade, and in 2008, more than 20
prisoners a day were forced to sleep on the floor due to lack of bed
space. In addition, inspection reports from the Idaho Sheriff's
Association show that the jail is poorly ventilated and unsanitary. In
October 2008, Sheriff Smith notified the County Commissioners that a
"large scale renovation" of the jail was needed, including "deep
sanitizing and cleaning" of the housing unit, that sewer pipes inside
the jail were leaking, and that the jail has a host of other problems.
None of these problems were fixed prior to the filing of the lawsuit.
According to the ACLU's motion,
numerous complaints about the sanitary conditions of the detention
center have been submitted by prisoners in recent months, including one
by a prisoner with severe asthma who said the significant mold in her
housing area was placing her health "in grave danger." Another prisoner
complained that there appear to be "insects breeding in the stagnant
water in the bathroom from the plugged floor drains and cracked floor
seals." And a third complaint from a prisoner highlighted the fact that
a mattress is not sanitized before it is issued to the next prisoner.
These complaints are consistent with findings of the Idaho Sheriff's
Association, which has found the jail in violation of its standards.
"The law couldn't be clearer that
all prisoners in this country have a constitutional right to live in
sanitary conditions," said Lea C. Cooper, staff attorney with the ACLU
of Idaho, who is co-counsel on the case. "Simply put, county officials
are failing to uphold their constitutional obligations by forcing
prisoners to live in the kind of squalor that has existed at the Canyon
County Jail for years."
The ACLU filed its federal lawsuit
in January, but, due to a technicality, needed to refile it earlier
this month. The lawsuit charges that the jail is overcrowded and shower
facilities are teeming with toxic mold and rust. The lawsuit also
charges that the detention center suffers from inadequate ventilation
and temperature control, inadequate sanitation, and inadequate
plumbing.
"This case displays the need for us
to move away from our state's over-reliance on incarceration," said
Monica Hopkins, Executive Director of the ACLU of Idaho. "Implementing
policies that emphasize alternatives to incarceration - especially for
first-time and non-violent offenders - would be both more humane and
fiscally prudent."
A copy of the today's motion for preliminary injunction is available online at: www.aclu.org/racialjustice/gen/39187lgl20090327.html
Additional information about the ACLU is available online at: www.aclu.org
Additional information about the ACLU of Idaho is available online at: www.acluidaho.org
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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Despite 100% Pentagon Audit Failure Rate, House Passes $883.7 Billion NDAA
"Instead of fighting the rising cost of healthcare, gas, or groceries, this Congress prioritized rewarding the wealthy and well-connected military-industrial complex," said Defense Spending Reduction Caucus co-chairs.
Dec 11, 2024
Despite the Pentagon's repeated failures to pass audits and various alarming policies, 81 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted with 200 Republicans on Wednesday to advance a $883.7 billion annual defense package.
The Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025, unveiled by congressional negotiators this past Saturday, still needs approval from the Senate, which is expected to vote next week. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday that he plans to vote no and spoke out against the military-industrial complex.
The push to pass the NDAA comes as this congressional session winds down and after the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced last month that it had failed yet another audit—which several lawmakers highlighted after the Wednesday vote.
Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chairs and co-founders of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, said in a joint statement, "Time and time again, Congress seems to be able to find the funds necessary to line the pockets of defense contractors while neglecting the problems everyday Americans face here at home."
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Several of the 124 House Democrats who voted against the NDAA cited those "culture war" policies, in addition to concerns about how the Pentagon spends massive amounts of money that could go toward improving lives across the country.
"Once again, Congress has passed a massive military authorization bill that prioritizes endless military spending over the critical needs of American families. This year's NDAA designates $900 billion for military spending," said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), noting the audit failures. "While I recognize the long-overdue 14.5% raise for our lowest-ranking enlisted personnel is important, this bill remains flawed. The bloated military budget continues to take away crucial funding from programs that could help millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet."
Taking aim at the GOP's push to deny gender-affirming care through TRICARE, the congresswoman said that "I cannot support a bill that continues unnecessary military spending while also attacking the rights and healthcare of transgender youth, and for that reason, I voted NO."
As Omar, a leading critic of the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, also pointed out: "The NDAA includes a provision that blocks the Pentagon from using data on casualties and deaths from the Gaza Ministry of Health or any sources relying on those statistics. This is an alarming erasure of the suffering of the Palestinian people, ignoring the human toll of ongoing violence."
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Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), who voted against the NDAA, directed attention to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), set to be run by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
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Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who also opposed the NDAA, wrote in a Tuesday opinion piece for MSNBC that he looks forward to working with DOGE "to reduce waste and fraud at the Pentagon, while strongly opposing any cuts to programs likeSocial Security, Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau."
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"At a time when Hamas is feeling isolated due to the cease-fire in Lebanon, the draft resolution on a cease-fire in Gaza risks sending a dangerous message to Hamas that there's no need to negotiate or release the hostages," Robert Wood, the United States' deputy U.N. ambassador, said ahead of Wednesday's vote.
The 193-member U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) subsequently voted 158-9, with 13 abstentions, for a resolution demanding "an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire, to be respected by all parties," and calling for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" held by Hamas.
The nine countries that opposed the measure are the United States, Israel, Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, and Tonga.
In a separate vote Wednesday, 159 UNGA members voted in favor of a resolution affirming the body's "full support" for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. UNRWA has been the target of diplomatic and financial attacks by Israel and its backers—who have baselessly accused the lifesaving organization of being a terrorist group—and literal attacks by Israeli forces, who have killed more than 250 of the agency's personnel.
Nine UNGA members opposed the measure, while 11 others abstained. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, while General Assembly resolutions are not, and are also not subject to vetoes.
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Aiming to confront "a root cause of many of America's fundamental economic problems," U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday unveiled a bill to require corporations to balance growth with fair treatment of their employees and consumers.
The Massachusetts Democrat introduced the Accountable Capitalism Act, explaining that for much of U.S. history, corporations reinvested more than half of their profits back into their companies, working in the interest of employees, customers, business partners, and shareholders.
In the 1980s, said Warren corporations began placing the latter group above all, adopting "the belief that their only legitimate and legal purpose was 'maximizing shareholder value.'"
That view was further cemented in 1997 when the Business Roundtable, a lobbying group that represents chief executives across the country, declared that the "principal objective of a business enterprise is to generate economic returns to its owners."
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