U.S. Department of Justice announced the launch of separate civil probes into the conditions of two South Carolina-based jails.
“The department received credible allegations that incarcerated persons have died from use of force, gross medical neglect or suicide in the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center,” the DOJ said in a statement on Thursday. “The department also received credible allegations that the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center is structurally unsafe and that there have been sexual assaults, homicides and prevalent violence resulting in serious injuries.”
The DOJ will examine medical and mental health care, use of isolation and use of force at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center. Investigators would also determine whether the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office discriminates against people with disabilities.
The announcement comes after attorneys for the family of 27-year-old Lason Butler, a man who died at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Columbia, South Carolina, sent a request to the department’s civil rights division earlier this year. DOJ plans to examine living conditions and whether the detention center fails to protect incarcerated people from violence.
The letter outlined Butler’s experience before his February 2022 death and the alleged unsanitary conditions inside the facility. When he was taken into custody, initially unbeknownst to his family, the jail noted that Butler was acting “erratic” but “cooperative,” and he was moved into a special housing unit. Butler had been arrested for traffic violations that included reckless driving, failure to stop for a blue light and driving with a suspended license.
According to the letter, it was noted that he was seen playing with feces and lying down naked and unresponsive in his cell to the point where he “could not hold his head up.” During this time, his family repeatedly attempted to see him.
At one point, he was placed on suicide watch…
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