California has committed $260 million over four years to repair leaking roofs and clear dangerous mold at more than two dozen deteriorating prisons where the cost of overdue maintenance is pegged at more than $1 billion. A lawsuit is calling for action.
A view of a dining hall at Corcoran state prison shows where damaged ceiling tiles have been removed. California is spending $260 million to repair leaking roofs and clear dangerous mold that imperils more than two dozen deteriorating prisons.
Mice twice fell onto the dining table and scurried into a dishwashing area in April 2018, testified inmate Marvin Dominguez, who eats twice a day in the dining hall at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran. Then a squirming maggot dropped onto his food tray in October.The disclosure comes amid increased scrutiny over prison conditions nationally.
Inmates’ attorneys say the Corcoran prison targeted in the lawsuit is a symptom of a systemwide problem. Besides spawning mold, leaking roofs short out electrical systems, including lights, fire alarm control panels and fire suppression systems, corrections officials say. That led Kings County Superior Court Judge Donna Tarter to half-joke during trial that the roof “is not getting fixed probably in our lifetime.” She expects to decide by May whether to order the prison to close the dining hall and feed about 800 inmates in their dormitories, a stopgap measure that officials said would create difficult logistical problems while interfering with prison programs.
Associate Warden Jason Collins and prison Lt. Nicholas Tyler blamed “pruno” — an illicit alcoholic beverage fermented from leftover fruit with a little bread to provide the yeast.
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