Lawsuit alleges civil rights violations by jail
SOUTH BEND — Attorneys at Macdonald Hoague and Bayless, acting on behalf of the nonprofit Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), have filed a 600-page lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington in Tacoma against Pacific County Sheriff Daniel Garcia, Undersheriff Michael Parker, and the county.
The lawsuit alleges that informational mail sent by the HRDC to inmates inside the Pacific County Department of Corrections (formerly Pacific County Jail) in the form of legal magazines, books and other correspondence went undelivered and was sent back.
“HRDC distributes its publications to incarcerated people by sending its publications to correctional facilities all over the country, including in the State of Washington, at Pacific County Jail and elsewhere. In particular, distributing HRDC’s legal educational publications to individuals incarcerated in county jails, such as the Pacific County Jail, is essential to HRDC’s mission because the publications are designed to assist incarcerated individuals who are subject to ongoing criminal proceedings,” the lawsuit states.
This includes inmates “who need to know about their civil rights while incarcerated in order to exercise or vindicate those rights, including the right to humane housing conditions, to access appropriate medical and mental health care, to receive disability accommodations, to be free from race and sex discrimination, to be protected from harm by others, and to receive mail and communicate with others, among other rights,” the lawsuit adds.
Among the informational mailings, the HRDC has two monthly magazines it sends out to jails addressed directly to inmates, titled Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News. The publications provide inmates with information on the judicial system, their rights, and ways to better themselves.
“For more than thirty years, the core of Plaintiff HRDC’s mission has been public education, prisoner education, advocacy, and outreach in support of the rights of prisoners, pretrial detainees, and other incarcerated people who seek legal redress for infringements of their constitutionally guaranteed and other basic human rights. Prisoners of all types, family and friends of prisoners, and prison advocates are among the intended beneficiaries of HRDC’s activities,” the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, in March 2024, the HRDC sent copies of the June 2023 Criminal Legal News addressed to six inmates, which were undelivered and sent back. Additional correspondence mailed last year on April 10, April 12, May 14, May 15, May 22 and June 10 also went largely undelivered.
“Between April and August 2024, Defendants rejected at least thirty-nine of the items that HDRC mailed to prisoners at the Pacific County Jail including: (a) nine info packs; (b) nine issues of Prison Legal News; © thirteen issues of Criminal Legal News; (d) seven letters; and (e) one copy of Prisoners’ handbook,” the lawsuit states.
“The items identified in the preceding paragraph were returned to HRDC marked with an ink stamp stating, “RETURN TO SENDER,” or substantially similar markings reflecting that Defendants rejected them but provided no notice of the reason for the rejection and no opportunity to challenge the decisions to reject HRDC’s magazines, books, letters, and info packs,” the lawsuit adds.
HRDC Editor and Executive Director Paul Wright reportedly emailed the sheriff’s office on Sept. 18, 2024, contacting Parker and stating, “I am the publisher of books and magazines aimed at prisoners, and several books and magazines we have sent to prisoners in the Pacific County Jail have been returned to us with no explanation given.”
According to the lawsuit, Parker responded, “Books may be sent to the Sheriff’s Office for review prior to making (sic) available to the inmate library.” Items sent directly to inmates may be returned if they haven’t been cleared first.
Parker went on in additional correspondence that questioned the jails’ policies to state, “magazines fall under the same criteria as any literature. It must first be cleared prior to being admitted to the Jail library. Typically, we do not have magazines up there only because swapping them out frequently isn’t convenient for my staff.”
“Defendant Parker stated in the same email, ‘we will allow books to be added to our library if they are addressed to the Jail and not to specific inmates.’ The Pacific County Sheriff’s Office public website contains no information about books or magazines or any information that might explain why Defendants rejected plaintiff’s mail,” the lawsuit states.
The only policies outlined that could be obtained were that the jail would not allow: unknown substances; glitter, perfume, glue or any adhesive material; sexually explicit content; stamps, envelopes or writing materials; Polaroids; and that oversized packages if they have not been pre-approved.
Among the many allegations outlined in the lawsuit, the sheriff’s office is accused of having unwritten policies and practices that infringe on the constitutional rights of the HDRC and inmates.
“Defendants’ unwritten policies, and their practices, customs, or usages unconstitutionally burden and interfere with the First Amendment rights of Plaintiff, other publishers and correspondents who sent or wish to send books, magazines, other publications, legal materials, or other mail to prisoners confined at the Pacific County Jail, and prisoners at the jail,” the lawsuit states.
“Defendants’ unwritten policies, and their practices, customs, and usages unconstitutionally burden and interfere with the Fourteenth Amendment due process rights of Plaintiff, other publishers and correspondents, and prisoners at the Pacific County Jail, whose mail has been or will be rejected by Defendants without notice of the reasons or an opportunity to be heard to challenge Defendants’ censorship decisions,” the lawsuit adds.
The lawsuit also makes a Monell Claim, alleging an entity violated a person’s constitutional right.
“The officials or employees named about acted under color of state law, and their acts deprives Plaintiff of its constitutional right to free speech and due process, and in doing so acted pursuant to an official policy or widespread wrongdoing or longstanding practice or custom of the municipal Defendants, Pacific County and/or the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to stop additional alleged constitutional violations, a declaration that the sheriff’s office’s decisions in the matter violated the Constitution, along with seeking nominal, compensatory and punitive damages for the alleged violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. HRDC is seeking a jury trial.
The lawsuit also seeks reimbursement of attorney and legal fees, pre- and post-judgment interest, the right to conform the pleadings to the proof and evidence presented at trial, and any other relief a court deems “just and equitable.”
The Pacific County General Administration and Board of County Commissioners have declined to comment on the matter. The sheriff’s office, including Garcia and Parker, has yet to respond to requests for comments.
Garcia and Parker are being represented by Olympia attorney Michael Throgmorton.
