WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice today announced a comprehensive agreement with the state of Maryland into the conditions of confinement at the Baltimore City Detention Center. The agreement follows the Department’s investigation of the facility, which found substantial civil rights violations.
The Department identified inadequate medical and mental health care, inadequate security and adult and juvenile detention practices, inadequate fire safety and environmental health conditions, and inadequate provision of special education services. Today’s agreement with the state ensures, among other things, that these deficiencies will be remedied and that services and systems will consistently meet generally accepted professional standards and constitutional and federal statutory requirements.
“I appreciate Maryland's commitment to improve conditions at the jail and look forward to the implementation of this important agreement,” said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.
The Civil Rights Division conducted its investigation pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, which authorizes the federal government to identify and root out systemic abuses such as those identified in this case. The Civil Rights Division has successfully resolved similar investigations of other adult correctional facilities in numerous other jurisdictions, including Delaware, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, California, Tennessee, New York, and Kentucky.
More information about the Special Litigation Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/split/index.html.
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