Class Action Claims ‘Dire’ Conditions at Hope Village Halfway House Maximize Risk of Spreading COVID-19

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As Americans are being urged to stay at home to quell the spread of COVID-19, two incarcerated individuals at Washington D.C.’s Hope Village halfway house allege in a proposed class action lawsuit that the facility’s disregard of recommended social distancing guidelines and lack of on-site medical staff have put residents at a heightened risk for contracting the novel coronavirus.

Contrary to both the District of Columbia’s social distancing policy and guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on how to limit transmission of the virus, prisoners at Hope Village are confined to close quarters at all times and are not provided with even “the most basic supplies” to clean their living spaces and maintain personal hygiene, the lawsuit alleges. According to the suit, the structure and layout of Hope Village, which the case notes is the largest halfway house in the country, make the CDC’s recommendation of social distancing—i.e., maintaining at least six feet away from others—impossible to achieve.

“Hope Village does not encourage or practice social distancing in its facilities,” the complaint alleges, adding that the institution has disregarded “all medical and public health directives for risk mitigation.”

Instead, the lawsuit claims, prisoners are forced to sleep in bunk beds only three feet apart from each other, gather in dining rooms with groups of 20 to 25 people for each meal, and touch doors and other surfaces “that are touched by many other prisoners,” including those suspected of having contracted COVID-19. As the plaintiffs tell it, the risk has been heightened even further in that they and other prisoners have been disallowed from leaving the facility during the day to look for work or visit their families.

The case further alleges that prisoners have limited access to supplies such as hot water, soap, disinfectant, gloves and masks. According to the suit, Hope Village has not provided any hygiene supplies to those incarcerated in its facility, forcing prisoners to rely on families living nearby to drop off such materials. Lysol, hand sanitizer, and alcohol-based cleaning supplies are not permitted given such substances are considered contraband, the case adds.

The plaintiffs go on to claim that there exist at Hope Village “many opportunities” for the virus to enter the 300-bed facility, which has allegedly refused to provide residents with “even the most basic medical care” given the lack of on-site medical staff. Although prisoners are no longer allowed to leave Hope Village as of March 20, 2020, the institution, the lawsuit alleges, continues to accept new inmates and has neglected to perform proper screening of both inmates and staff for COVID-19 as recommended by the CDC and others.

The lawsuit warns that the conditions at the facility, coupled with the lack of supplies, could allow the virus to spread “like wildfire” should it be introduced to Hope Village.

“The conditions in Hope Village are dire,” the complaint says. “They are contrary to CDC guidance and BOP guidelines. Defendants have created a significant and immediate risk of spreading COVID-19, putting the prisoners [sic] health and lives in danger.”

The case goes on to state that many other prison systems across the country, in the midst of what’s been called a “massive global emergency,” have released prisoners in order to comply with social distancing recommendations and reduce the risk of becoming a hot spot for COVID-19.

Despite other institutions’ examples and the fact that many prisoners at Hope Village have been designated for home confinement and are eligible for release within six months of their scheduled release date, the suit contends that the defendants—who include the Federal Bureau of Prisons, its director, the District of Columbia, the director of D.C.’s Department of Corrections, and Hope Village, Inc.—have refused to exercise their discretion to provide early release and thereby “significantly reduce the population in the facility.”

The lawsuit, filed by the non-profit Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs and a recognized global law firm, looks to force the defendants to release enough people “such that the remaining people can be housed safely and in compliance with CDC guidance at Hope Village.”

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