UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — A lawsuit filed in federal court claims one-third of the population in the Prince George’s County jail is being unlawfully detained.
Five people who are currently incarcerated and another four people who have been freed from the Upper Marlboro jail filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Maryland.
The lawsuit alleges that every night, hundreds of people are jailed awaiting trial in Prince George’s county despite the absences of any legally sufficient order that they be detained.
“No court has found that they are too dangerous to be released,” the complaint reads. “Nor has any court found that they would be a flight risk if released. In fact, the opposite is true. A judge has decided that each of these people could safely be released into the community with appropriate conditions.
The nine plaintiffs in the case are represented by attorneys from WilmerHale, the Civil Rights Corps., and Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy & Protection.
The lawsuit lists Prince George’s County, Prince George’s County Corrections Department Director Corenne Labbé, and eleven Prince George’s district and circuit judges, among others, as defendants.
The lawsuit describes a system where people routinely find themselves stuck behind bars with no explanation given as to why they remain there.
Prince George’s County district and circuit judges frequently impose pretrial options and orders on defendants, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
They say, through that act, a judge effectively authorizes a defendant’s release. However, the determination of when that person will actually be freed is left up to employees in the county’s Pretrial Division.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers claim, in some cases, it has taken county officials weeks or months to reach a decision as to what should happen to a jailed person.
“The county officials, employed by the Population Management Division of the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections, make these critical decisions behind closed doors, without a hearing or the participation of the arrested person or the state, and based on the officials’ own criteria unrelated to public safety or flight risk,” the lawsuit reads.
County officials’ slow decision-making often negatively impacts the people inside the jail awaiting release, the lawsuit alleges.
One plaintiff, Robert Frazier, of Prince George’s County, claims he is still incarcerated in the jail despite being authorized for release on May 31. He said he missed his mother’s funeral as a result of the judicial system’s inaction.
Another plaintiff, Elmer Laguan-Salinas, of Prince George’s County, said he was detained for close to three months after a judge authorized his release. He claimed he lost his home and was separated from his 14-month-old daughter during that time.
A 16-year-old boy is also listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. His lawyers claim he remains behind bars even though a judge authorized his release one month ago. The lawsuit claims he is worried he will be held back in school due to the length of his detention.
“These are people who are still incarcerated in the jail,” said WilmerHale attorney Edward Williams. “And, they have decided to file a lawsuit on behalf of themselves and people who are similarly situated to them. That exposes them to real risks. The people they are suing are the people who are responsible for currently detaining them. And, so, I want to make sure that we know their bravery.”
Williams said more than 130 people in the jail currently find themselves in situations like the ones experienced by the plaintiffs in the case.
The Prince George’s County Department of Corrections released a statement in response to the claims alleged in the lawsuit.
“We have been made aware of the allegations and are reviewing them, but we have not yet been served with a lawsuit,” the statement reads.
Neither Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks’ office or the Maryland Courts’ Public Affairs office have responded to a request for comment regarding the litigation.
“We have not seen a situation like this,” Williams said. “This is, particularly in our view, an extreme circumstance in which the Constitution has been blatantly violated.”
The organization, Life After Release [LAR], helps people on the ground in Prince George’s County who have been impacted by mass incarceration.
LAR Executive Director Qiana Johnson said people being released in a delayed fashion from the Prince George’s County jail is not new.
She said she believes it is the result of systemic issues within the county government.
“It's something that is embedded,” Johnson said. “It's a part of the culture for the judicial officials.”
She added the community is concerned about life inside the jail.
“We demand answers for what is being done to our people who are being held inside of the jail in Upper Marlboro,” Johnson said.
The lawsuit’s plaintiffs ask for compensatory damages, as determined during a later date, at a jury trial. It also wants a declaration made that the defendants in the case violated the rights of the plaintiffs under both the United States and Maryland constitutions by detaining people pretrial without meeting the substantive and procedural standards required for pretrial detention.