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Human Rights Commission hears inmate complaints, plans meeting with jail captain
Summary
Commissioners heard recurring complaints from jail residents about possible HIPAA breaches, medication changes and fear of retaliation. The chair will meet Captain Christian to follow up; commissioners discussed documenting calls, recording common issues and exploring a pro-bono advocate or ad hoc subcommittee.
The Humboldt County Human Rights Commission heard from its correctional facilities liaison about repeated complaints from people in custody, including alleged announcements of inmates’ health information, changes to prescribed medication dosing and fear of retaliation for filing grievances.
"The issues that keep coming up are sharing or announcing HIPAA information so that other inmates can hear the health status of an inmate and repeated requests for doctor prescribed doses of medications, that according to the people consistently doesn't measure up to what they were prescribed before they went into the jail," the chair said, reporting on meetings with two inmates and describing the themes raised.
Commissioners discussed ways to document and respond. One commissioner urged recording common hotline calls so the commission could review patterns for the annual report, and another asked whether a pro bono attorney or an advocate might be available to advise inmates on complaints and options.
"I wonder if there would be a possibility of, say, a pro bono attorney who might volunteer his or her time ... to advise the inmate in terms of what the options are that he or she might have," a committee member said.
The chair said she will seek a meeting with Captain Christian at the jail to raise the complaints and said the commission may propose a short-term ad hoc committee to develop formal recommendations and, if feasible, present them to the sheriff and county supervisors. The chair also said the commission will include summary material in its upcoming annual report to the Board of Supervisors.
Next steps: the chair will request a meeting with Captain Christian and staff will consider ways to document recurring hotline issues; commissioners asked for a proposal on ad hoc committee scope and whether legal pro bono support can be identified.
