Current:Home > MySupreme Court denies California’s appeal for immunity for COVID-19 deaths at San Quentin prison -Wealth Harmony Labs
Supreme Court denies California’s appeal for immunity for COVID-19 deaths at San Quentin prison
View
Date:2025-04-16 13:08:11
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied an appeal from California corrections officials who sought immunity from lawsuits claiming they acted with deliberate indifference when they caused a deadly COVID-19 outbreak at one of the world’s most famous prisons four years ago.
The justices turned down the appeal without comment or dissent.
The lawsuit stemmed from the botched transfer of infected inmates in May 2020 from a Southern California prison to San Quentin, which at the time had no infections. The coronavirus then quickly sickened 75% of inmates at the prison north of San Francisco, leading to the deaths of 28 inmates and a correctional officer.
California now faces four lawsuits from the relatives of those who died as well as from inmates and staff who were infected but survived.
“The state has had its due process all the way to the Supreme Court. They’re not getting off on a technicality,” Michael J. Haddad, an attorney for the families, said in a statement following the high court’s decision. “Now it’s time to face the facts. Prison administrators killed 29 people in what the 9th Circuit called a ‘textbook case’ of deliberate indifference.”
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Monday that it does not comment on active legal proceedings.
Prison officials “ignored virtually every safety measure” in making the transfers, Marin County Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Howard wrote in a 2021 tentative ruling in the case.
In 2021, California workplace safety regulators hit San Quentin with a $421,880 fine, one of the largest pandemic-related penalties against an employer.
State Sen. Mike McGuire, who represents the San Quentin area, called the deaths “completely avoidable” and said the transfer never should have happened. “I don’t say this lightly, but this is a failure of leadership,” McGuire said during a 2020 Senate oversight hearing.
Lawyers for the state have maintained prison officials took numerous steps to try to protect inmates from infection, including temporarily reducing the population of the state’s oldest prison by 40%, short of the 50% recommended in June 2020 by health experts.
Prison officials said the botched transfer itself was a flawed but well-intentioned effort to move 121 vulnerable inmates away from an outbreak at the California Institution for Men in Chino.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- What polling shows about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ new running mate
- South Carolina forward Ashlyn Watkins has charges against her dismissed
- US Rep. Lauren Boebert will find out whether switching races worked in Colorado
- Republicans try to hold onto all of Iowa’s 4 congressional districts
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- A Quaker who helps migrants says US presidential election will make no difference at the border
- Man faces fatal kidnapping charges in 2016 disappearance of woman and daughter in Florida
- Massachusetts voters weigh ballot issues on union rights, wages and psychedelics
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Toss-up congressional races in liberal California could determine House control
Ranking
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Republican Mike Braun faces Republican-turned-Democrat Jennifer McCormick in Indiana governor’s race
- Selena Gomez, Mariska Hargitay and More Stars Who’ve Voted in 2024 U.S. Presidential Election
- 'Yellowstone' star Luke Grimes on adapting to country culture
- Eva Mendes Shares Message of Gratitude to Olympics for Keeping Her and Ryan Gosling's Kids Private
- Republican Mike Braun faces Republican-turned-Democrat Jennifer McCormick in Indiana governor’s race
- New Hampshire will decide incumbent’s fate in 1 US House district and fill an open seat in the other
- McBride and Whalen’s US House race sets the stage for a potentially historic outcome
Recommendation
In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
Oprah Winfrey and Katy Perry Make Surprise Appearance During Kamala Harris Philadelphia Rally
Colorado US House race between Rep. Caraveo and Evans comes down to Latino voters
Za'Darius Smith trade winners, losers: Lions land Aidan Hutchinson replacement
A Georgia governor’s latest work after politics: a children’s book on his cats ‘Veto’ and ‘Bill’
Republicans try to hold onto all of Iowa’s 4 congressional districts
How to watch Jon Stewart's 'Election Night' special on 'The Daily Show'
Tropical Storm Rafael to become hurricane before landfall in Cuba. Is US at risk?