The lawsuit accuses San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore of not doing enough to protect jail inmates from the deadly coronavirus.
A class-action lawsuit accusing Sheriff Bill Gore of not doing enough to protect San Diego County jail inmates from the deadly coronavirus may proceed to trial, under an order issued by a Superior Court judge.
If upheld, the order means that lawyers from the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, Community Advocates for Just & Moral Governance and the Singleton, Schreiber, McKenzie & Scott law firm may proceed with their case. Numerous public health experts and academic studies have concluded that people in congregate-living settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, jails and prisons are especially vulnerable to the virus, which has killed more than 600,000 people in the United States.Gore agreed to lower the San Diego County jail population early in the pandemic, and the number of inmates has dropped from more than 5,000 to just over 3,800. However, suspects still are being booked into jail for low-level crimes.
“Second, defendant has shown that he can mitigate against the spread of COVID-19 without releasing more inmates,” they added. “Third, defendant cannot force inmates to accept the COVID-19 vaccine.” Since they first became available, vaccines have been administered to almost 3,000 inmates, the department said, but nearly 7,000 people have refused to be inoculated.
Jones, who suffers from diabetes and asthma and uses a prosthetic leg, said in a lawsuit that he received inadequate medical care while in sheriff’s custody. That left him especially vulnerable to catching COVID-19, the suit said.“The people in plaintiff’s medical unit are unable to maintain safe physical distance from each other,” the complaint alleged. “They are forced to stand in line right next to other people, with no more than a foot between them, to get food or medication.
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