Philly must pay $25 million for violating prison conditions

A federal judge has ordered the city of Philadelphia to pay $25 million into a special fund and take urgent steps to address staffing shortages in the city's jails.

The order was issued Friday, a month after U.S. District Judge Gerald A. McHugh ruled in a class action lawsuit on behalf of inmates alleging inhumane conditions in the prisons that the city had violated its 2022 settlement agreement.

McHugh ordered the city to speed up recruitment and retention and double-staff vacant shifts because the jails were 45 percent understaffed. These shortages often left inmates locked in their cells for days at a time and led to rampant contraband traffic, leading to drug overdoses and serious injuries from homemade weapons.

” READ MORE: Drug deaths and overdoses plague Philadelphia prisons, where many are denied treatment

In addition, McHugh said the city must immediately examine the possibility of moving some prisoners to facilities outside the city's main prison complex in Northeast Philadelphia.

He also ordered criminal justice leaders to consider releasing low-risk and medically vulnerable prisoners. Reducing the prison population by about 500 inmates would allow the city to close its oldest jail, the Detention Center, significantly reducing the burden on staff, attorneys said at the contempt of court hearing in July.

Instead, the prison population has risen in recent weeks to its highest level in three years — about 4,800 people — further exceeding staff capacity, raising concerns among some city officials.

A series of violent incidents followed, according to internal records obtained by the Inquirer.

According to reports, correctional officers who were dazed by thick smoke from the synthetic drug K2 in some wards had to leave for medical treatment at least twice in the past three weeks. And last week, at least four inmates had to be taken to outside hospitals for medical treatment after being stabbed or cut during fights.

Spokesmen for the Philadelphia Department of Corrections and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday.

” READ MORE: 29 people died in Philadelphia's prisons during the pandemic. The city administration said they had done a “good job.”

The city's lawyers emphasized in court that the administration had made significant, good faith efforts to hire more staff, increase salaries and outsource time-consuming tasks such as transporting prisoners to medical appointments.

However, McHugh said a contempt of court finding was warranted after the city failed to comply with the terms of its own settlement agreement for more than two years.

He also ordered the city to provide additional funding to pay for medical staff and maintenance, improve security and hire contractors to review their programming.

David Rudovsky, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, had argued that inmates who endured the “appalling” and unconstitutional conditions should be directly compensated under the contempt of court order, at a rate of $5 per person per day of incarceration.

This would have cost the city about $8.3 million annually.

However, the city's lawyers said this was neither fair nor practical.

McHugh's order to allocate $25 million in city funds appears to be intended to ensure that money is available for improvements to the prison system itself.

But if the city does not take action, he will try to collect the money, Rudovsky said. He said the amount involved is a clear signal.

“I think it shows [McHugh is] “I take this very seriously and have tried to craft an order that addresses the three main issues that are generally understood to be: increasing staff, reducing population and creating constitutionally compliant facilities, whether it's health care or maintenance,” he said. “Whether the city is able to do that is the real question. But I think his message is, 'If you don't do it, there will be additional sanctions.'”