Lawsuit filed over probation detainers at Allegheny County Jail
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Two national civil rights groups have filed a class-action lawsuit in Allegheny County over alleged misconduct at the Allegheny County Jail.
Three judges, the jail's warden, and other officials were named in the suit, which alleges hundreds of inmates are being illegally held on probation detainers.
The attorneys for the plaintiffs say of those being held on probation detainers, about 16% are for technical violations.
"As we stand here today, more than 600 people are illegally trapped at the Allegheny County Jail," lead attorney Sumayya Saleh said Tuesday.
The Civil Rights Corps and Abolitionist Law Center claim hundreds of people sitting in the Allegheny County Jail have been unlawfully jailed for months.
The lawsuit — filed against three judges, the jail's warden and probation department officials — states the detainer comes without fair hearings to determine if they should be held in jail at all.
"There's no compelling argument that these people need to relinquish in jail. Quite the contrary," Saleh said.
Saleh says this practice has ruined lives by separating families, job loss, missing important milestones and being trapped without recourse. The plaintiffs in the case have both been in jail for more than eight months and have no idea when they're getting out.
The suit demands change.
"Right now they are over 1,400 people incarcerated at the jail. Less than 3% of them are serving a sentence. The rest are not convicted and awaiting a trial or some other proceeding. Almost 40% of the jail was being held on county probation detainers. It's the single largest driver of pretrial incarceration in the region," said Dolly Prabhu, an attorney with the Abolitionist Law Center.
Allegheny County Councilwoman Bethany Hallam, who has admitted to struggling with addiction in the past and has done stents in the county jail, is now an advocate for jail reform.
She says her time spent in jail wasn't because she was serving a sentence, rather she violated probation.
"When it comes to probation detainers there, are technical violations. Minor issues, a failed drug test, missing a meeting with your probation officer or missing a therapy session. By definition, people who are only charged with technical probation violations have not been charged with any new prime," Hallam said.
An injunction has been filed asking the court to have a hearing and issue an early ruling in the case, granting release to those people until the rest of the case plays out.
