A Pandemic Of Litigation: Prisons And COVID-19 Class Actions

• Published date: 09 March 2022
• Subject Matter: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Class Actions, Government Measures, Litigation, Contracts and Force Majeure
• Law Firm: Ellis & Winters
• Author: Mr Jeffrey Warren

Much like COVID-19 itself, a pandemic of class-action litigation has spread across this nation between two age-old foes: prisons, and their prisoners. Unlike most of the litigation arising from COVID-19 across the country, prisoners are taking a unique legal position: the failure of the government to take precautions against COVID-19 is unconstitutional. In cases filed by prisoners seeking collective relief from the rapid spread of COVID-19 within their respective prisons, however, motions for class certification have revealed complicated answers to questions that appear, at first blush, to have simple resolutions: whether classes of prisoners are "ascertainable" and whether, in the context of a pandemic, prisoners can satisfy the commonality requirement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.

A National Push to Improve Living Conditions

After filing dozens of class actions in courts across the United States, prisoners are, in many instances, prevailing. Courts are repeatedly finding that States have a constitutional duty to enforce COVID-19 mitigation measures among prison populations. Referring to the COVID-19 outbreak at San Quentin as the "worst epidemiological disaster in California correctional history," the Marin County Superior Court issued a 116-page ruling determining that the failure to take precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 was "cruel and unusual" within the meaning of the Eighth Amendment. After prisoners filed a class-action lawsuit in Maryland, they reached a settlement with the State guaranteeing weekly COVID testing, vaccinations, masks, and isolation for all new cohorts of prisoners. In Hawaii, a class-action lawsuit brought by prisoners resulted in a settlement which created a five-person panel that would be given free rein to assess prison conditions and assist in the implementation of measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. In Pennsylvania, the City of Philadelphia agreed to pay $125,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by prisoners alleging that the city's jails did not comply with the rules requiring that prisoners receive a minimum of three hours out of their cells each day. After initially being excluded from New York's vaccination rollout, prisoners filed a class-action lawsuit seeking inclusion in the State's vaccination plan and prevailed'the court found that the State's actions were "by definition arbitrary and capricious."

Closer to Home: The Action at Federal Correctional Complex Butner

North Carolina is not immune from the ongoing spread of class-action litigation arising from prison conditions. In October 2020, prisoners at Federal Correctional Complex Butner ("FCC Butner") filed a class-action lawsuit in...