DOC faces class action lawsuit for inhumane treatment, spread of disease, rape, and assault

The Guam Department of Corrections may be facing a class action lawsuit that will attract federal attention to a decades-old multimillion dollar problem the government of Guam continues to fail at resolving: the maltreatment of citizens detained and otherwise housed at its dilapidating facilities.

Detainees, unlike inmates, have not been found guilty of the crimes for which they are incarcerated. They are citizens who have been charged with crimes and confined at the request of the attorney general and by command of the court. The vast majority of those housed at DOC are detainees, most of whom have been locked up and awaiting trial since Douglas Moylan became the attorney general. Mr. Moylan has previously said the crowding problem at the DOC facilities is not within his jurisdiction, but is a problem for the administration to figure out.

In a lawsuit filed today in the Superior Court of Guam, detainee Jessee Leon Guerrero is suing Fred Bordallo as the director of corrections, alleging GovGuam is forcing its detainees to endure inhumane and unsanitary conditions that fall well below Department of Justice standards. The lawsuit, filed by Mr. Leon Guerrero’s attorney, Thomas Fisher, asks the court to certify the case as a class action, with the remainder of the class being “all individuals held by the [DOC] in pre-trial detention at any Guam Department of Corrections facility.”

Detainees for months have complained to Kandit about the deplorable living conditions. Corrections officers who have spoken to Kandit on condition of anonymity have corroborated the conditions, telling Kandit that in some cases the living conditions are unfit for even domesticated animals.

According to the Leon Guerrero lawsuit and to detainee testimony, DOC cells are approximately 24 square feet and meant to house up to two people. “Mr. Leon Guerrero is confined with five others, with each person functionally allotted 8 square feet in which to live,” the lawsuit states.

“In this space the adult males must sleep, eat, urinate, defecate, pass gas, sweat and live within touching distance each to the other,” the lawsuit states.

Spread of Disease, Assaults, Rapes, and Sleeping on Dirty Concrete Floors

The detainees also have not been provided mattresses, some of them having to sleep on the concrete floors, “the same floor upon which all shed hair, skin, and mucus, the same floor which is regularly splashed with urine as the men evacuate their bladders.”

The lawsuit also alleges DOC is not screening detainees for common transmittable diseases “such as tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis.” They are not provided with soap or other cleaning solution. “They shower, if at all, in water alone,” the lawsuit states.

Mr. Leon Guerrero’s allegations are corroborated by other detainees and inmates, and by prison guards.

The lawsuit quotes a DOC manager’s admission of the problems the agency is facing: “[P]re-trial detainees are just being housed in the detention facility with no AC units, no lights, lack of water, lack of toiletry items, lack of personal hygiene products, no laundry soap, sometimes no fire-retardant mattresses because it was damaged by prisoners, no beddings, no towels, no cups.”

The lawsuit quotes the manager – Major Maryhelen Lizama – further:

“Pre-trial detainees are housed in a cell like sardines in Hagatna Detention due to being placed on quarantine. Because they are housed and overcrowded in the cell, this causes them to fight while housed in the cell together because of the lack of space inside the room or cell. They could also contract diseases or illness for being overcrowded in the room. They are also probable victims of Prison Rape or sexual harassment, bullied and assaulted daily. They have incidents almost every day of getting beat up but claims they fell from their bunk or slipped in the shower and got two black eyes. They are afraid to report the truth about how they sustained injuries on their body? (sic) Because of this, the safety level is at the Red Zone… These are the consequences of being overcrowded and lack of manpower. The AC units does (sic) not work which causes them to be irritated and also claim they have difficulty breathing.”

Mr. Leon Guerrero seeks the court’s approval to expand his lawsuit to include “as many as 500 class members” detained at the DOC.

The lawsuit encourages the court to find that the 500 others are subject to the same conditions Mr. Leon Guerrero endures: “cruel, unusual, inhumane and indecent conditions where they receive no fresh air, no means by which they can adequately wash, are subject to repeated exposure to bodily waste of others, no bedding or adequate sleeping space, no light and all other conditions amounting to illegal confinement.”

It is against the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution to subject people to cruel and unusual punishment.

 

Should Not Have Been Confined In the First Place

The lawsuit includes written testimony to the attorney general from DOC operations commander Major Maryhelen Lizama, where she requested Mr. Moylan to release detainees accused of non-violent crimes.

“This a request to release those who are non-violent crime defendants due to the overcrowding situation, living conditions, shortage of manpower, building deficiencies, and lack of supplies,” she wrote in a December 5 letter. “We are requesting for the release of pretrial detainees who have been charged with misdemeanor charges, due to the fact that all deficiencies have been addressed and are pending repairs or replacement. Misdemeanors include possession of controlled substances or drugs, petty theft, vandalism, perjury, prostitution, indecent exposure, trespassing, basic assault, resisting arrest, public intoxication, and DUI (Driving under the Influence). We also have traffic warrants or violations, making false reports. All of these could have been booked and released which was done in the past. The [Guam Police Department] would charge them and they were booked and released.”

Ms. Lizama said those detained on allegations of non-violent offenses could have instead been made to improve the community through parks, highway and beach cleanup.

“We are overcrowded,” she said.