On December 31, 2018, three female pretrial detainees housed at the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County filed this class action lawsuit on behalf of a class of all women who were, or will be in the future, incarcerated in the Alameda County Jails in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs sued the Alameda County and Alameda County Sheriff’s Office under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of their rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments and state law. They claimed denial of basic human rights, cruel and unusual punishment, and intentional infliction of emotional stress due to defendants' practice of interrupting the sleep of the plaintiffs. Represented by a private counsel, they sought monetary, injunctive, and declaratory reliefs. The case was assigned to Judge James Donato.

Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants had a policy of keeping lights on at all times and scheduling meals and activities designed to prevent inmates from sleeping for more than five-and-a-half hours a night. The plaintiffs also contended that, in addition to the 24 hour light-on policy, the defendants routinely engaged in actions that disrupt the inmates’ sleep duration, such as repeatedly shining bright white flashlights into prisoners’ eyes, banging keys and flashlights on metal doors, operating machines, and making announcements over the public address system.

On January 29, the plaintiffs filed an ex parte application for Temporary Restraining Order to stop the defendants from disrupting and disturbing the sleep of the plaintiffs and other women prisoners similarly situated. The case is ongoing.

Lisa Koo - 01/31/2019


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