Lawsuits against the state Department of Corrections are mounting as at least 62 staff members and 50 prisoners have been infected with COVID-19 and three deaths have been attributed to the virus.
Inmates claim there isn't enough protection and testing to stop the spread.
The growing number of coronavirus-positive inmates and staff inside South Carolina prisons aligns with a national trend. Some statewide populations are "flattening the curve" of new cases though outbreaks in some jails and prisons are moving in the opposite direction.
At least three lawsuits, including a class-action suit involving seven inmates, have been filed in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina within the past three weeks.
During that same time, 20 to 30 state National Guard soldiers arrived at a few correctional institutions to help monitor inmates and routinely check body temperatures.
Of the 50 prisoners who tested positive for COVID-19 as of Friday, 30 were in Kirkland Correctional Institution and 20 were in Allendale.
The infected staff members were spread out between 13 institutions, with some of the staff not assigned to one specific institution.
The state prison system operates 21 institutions that make up nearly 18,000 people incarcerated.
A month ago, on April 13, no inmate in the system had tested positive for the coronavirus. Only 14 inmates had been tested.
By May 12, 125 tests had been administered to inmates. Fifty, or 40%, of those came back positive while 73 came back negative with two tests still pending results, according to the department.
What to know: Coronavirus in South Carolina
A lawsuit filed by an inmate at Broad River Correctional Institution May 4 states that prior grievances in early April went unaddressed. The lawsuit from Kenneth Rivera alleges prisoners aren't receiving disinfectants or hand sanitizer, are not being tested for COVID-19 and are keeping two inmates per cell rather than keeping inmates physically distant.
"Defendants refuse to test me for COVID-19 to determine if I have symptoms or not," the lawsuit reads.
Rivera, in his complaint, is asking to be tested for COVID-19, for the South Carolina Department of Corrections to adhere to all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines during the pandemic and for $100,000 in punitive and compensatory damages.
A second lawsuit filed May 4 involves inmate Robert Graham, an inmate at Perry Correctional Institution in Greenville County alleging similar issues.
The lawsuit states SCDC staff are forcing inmates to "remain housed throughout its penal system's dorms and living quarters with 'coronavirus' having already killed inmates and by their own admission, 'the virus' has the potential to kill more."
"Inmates are not being provided with needed antibiotics or immune boosters to aid them in fighting off this deadly plague," the lawsuit says.
Graham's lawsuit adds that testing should be done on all inmates given their susceptibility to infection due to living conditions within the facilities.
A class-action lawsuit involving seven inmates from various institutions along with the Columbia-based Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities organization states that the prison system has failed to take necessary steps for protection including not forming an adequate testing plan, not practicing social distancing and not continuing to adequately providing necessary treatment for those with other medical conditions.
"COVID-19 has already spread into South Carolina’s state prisons and without immediate relief, it will spread like wildfire and unnecessarily sicken and kill countless correctional staff and prisoners," the lawsuit says. "Because physical distancing and vigilant hygiene are impossible under current conditions, highly transmissible diseases like COVID-19 can, and have, spread at a dramatically accelerated rate in jails and prisons."
The lawsuit claims that if outbreaks occur in correctional facilities, the virus will likely spread to neighboring communities.
"Once the virus enters a detention center, the regular movement of staff in and out of the facility means the virus will spread back to the community," the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit referenced statistics that were tabulated previously to show that while 35 staff had tested positive, only one inmate had tested positive in mid-April.
"Statistically, the only conceivable explanation for that lopsided result is the absence of testing of inmates," the lawsuit states. "Without the ability to perform widespread testing — of prison employees and inmates — there is a high risk that asymptomatic carriers will expose dozens of people in a short period of time."
SCDC spokesperson Chrysti Shain declined to comment on pending litigation but described numerous efforts the department has taken — including adding additional cleanings to cells — to minimize the spread of the novel coronavirus and promote health and safety.
As of Tuesday, one prison staff member and two inmates have died from COVID-19 complications.
A non-security staff member who was not identified by the SCDC died from complications of COVID-19 on April 12. The worker tested positive on April 5 and had most recent contact with inmates on March 26 and with staff on March 27, according to a press release from SCDC.
James Slater, 70, an inmate at Allendale Correctional Institution, died in a hospital on May 5. He tested positive for COVID-19 April 29 and was hospitalized since April 30. Slater was sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2017 in Lee County, according to state court records.
Bryan Furman, 60, an inmate at Allendale Correctional Institution, died on May 6. He was hospitalized May 4 and tested positive for COVID-19 May 5, according to the corrections department. Furman was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to criminal sexual conduct with a minor in 2017.
As a result of the spreads of positive cases in Allendale and Kirkland correctional institutions, those facilities are being quarantined, Shain said.
Offenders who do test positive are being treated in isolation units at Lee and Kirkland correctional institutions. Cellmates and other offenders who are symptomatic are also being monitored, Shain said.
National Guardsmen are taking temperatures and helping check on inmates in Allendale and Kirkland because of the increased number of people to monitor, Shain said. The guardsmen arrived at SCDC last week for training and officially began their work monitoring inmates on Monday.
Similar efforts are being done in Kansas, Ohio, Wisconsin and Illinois, Shain said.
“We’re grateful to Gen. Van McCarty and the National Guard for this collaboration in helping us keep staff and offenders safe during this unprecedented time,” SCDC director Bryan Stirling said in a statement.
Work and labor crews, which involve certain inmates working in community businesses or picking up roadside trash, have also halted during the pandemic, according to Shain.
Most prison industry programs, where inmates work in plants and shops within the institutions to provide services for private-sector contracts, are ongoing. In some work programs, inmates earn $.35 to $1.80 per hour.
"Where feasible, prison industries is continuing to operate in order to assist our inmates and our private sector partners through work engagement and fiscal stability," Shain said in an email. "We assess each plant daily for any indication of health risk and make adjustments accordingly. Some programs have been reduced to minimize exposure risk, and we are making sure inmates have proper social distancing."
She said all inmates in work program wear masks and appropriation protective equipment for their work areas, and some shifts have been reduced to make sure workers aren't too close together.
"We have closed some shops that require inmates to work closer together, such as our frame shop," she said.
Other inmates who work in the prison system's sewing shops are sewing face masks together for SCDC and the state's Emergency Management Division.
As of late April, inmates had made more than 40,000 masks in addition to gowns and face shields.
Daniel J. Gross is an investigative watchdog reporter focusing on public safety and law enforcement for The Greenville News. Reach him at dgross@greenvillenews.com or on Twitter @danieljgross.
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