By Jonathan Shorman
The Wichita Eagle
LANSING, Kan. — A group of Kansas inmates who argued that their imprisonment during the COVID-19 pandemic violated their constitutional rights will remain in prison after a judge dismissed a lawsuit brought on their behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Leavenworth County District Judge David King ruled the eight inmates had failed to prove the Kansas Department of Corrections didn’t provide adequate medical care or acted with deliberate difference to their medical needs.
The decision, issued Friday, comes as 734 Kansas prisoners have tested positive for COVID-19 and three have died. KDOC announced on Tuesday the first employee fatality tied to the virus and dozens of workers have been infected.
The inmates in the lawsuit reside in several prisons across the state, including Lansing Correctional Facility, where the vast majority of cases are located. Lansing has long been plagued by short staffs and was the site of an April riot, purportedly sparked by health care concerns.
Collectively, the inmates argued KDOC hadn’t done enough to protect them from the virus and said their rights against cruel and unusual punishment were being violated.
The judge disagreed. King wrote that documents provided by KDOC showed the agency “has undertaken appropriate efforts to protect the inmate population in Kansas correctional facilities from COVID-19.”
None of the inmates who sued are of an age that puts them at increased risk of contracting the virus, King wrote. And a majority don’t meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s definition of an individual with a heightened risk of severe illness.
Three of the inmates “allege only a generalized anxiety regarding medical care, yet that is not a recognized high-risk factor by the CDC,” he wrote.
ACLU of Kansas Director Nadine Johnson said that since the case was filed a month ago, the number of positive cases in the prison system “ballooned,” adding that KDOC’s efforts to protect inmates are not enough.
“We are definitely disappointed for our clients who continue to face dangerous and declining conditions inside Lansing,” Johnson said in a statement.
A KDOC spokeswoman Rebecca Witte said the agency respects the court’s decision “and will continue our work to ensure the health and safety of those that we serve.”
On Monday, Gov. Laura Kelly said that from the beginning of the pandemic the agency had implemented safety protocols to protect inmates and staff, including the use of personal protective equipment and separating inmates to contain the spread of the virus.
“Prisons are what they are,” Kelly said. “By their very nature, you have a lot of people living in close contact.”
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©2020 The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.)