Poor sanitation in jails has been the subject of civil rights lawsuits for decades. Plumbing issues, vermin infestations, feces-covered walls, and limited access to basic hygiene products, such as soap or tampons, are common complaints.
Courts almost universally agree that a lack of basic sanitation violates detainees’ constitutional rights,said David Fathi,director of the ACLU’s National Prison Project. Pre-trial detainees have sued, arguing that filthy conditions violate their due process rights. If a person has already been convicted, allegations of foul living conditions are considered cruel and unusual punishment.
Despite widespread legal challenges, many jails across the country are still filthy. Litigation against substandard conditions frequently enough ends in a settlement, Fathi noted, with officials agreeing to a change in policy, or better monitoring and enforcement, in exchange for not taking the case to trial. settlements are typically the fastest route to clean things up, but they don’t set a legal precedent for other facilities, meaning ther’s nothing requiring jails in the same county or state to adopt reforms.
Good hygiene in jail is often about more than detainees’ willingness to keep clean. Understaffing, overcrowding, facility maintenance, and mental health issues can all play a role. Such as, the ACLU of Oregon, settled a lawsuit in 2019 against a county jail that had allegedly crowded a dozen women into a single intake cell, where they had to beg for toilet paper and menstrual products, and were denied showers.
“people don’t want to live in filth,” said Dr. fred Rottnek, director of community medicine at St. Louis University and former medical lead at the St. Louis County Jail. “They are at the mercy of the administration to provide needed services because they can’t do it on their own.”
reporters from The Marshall Project’s local news teams dug into the state of sanitation at jails in St. Louis, Cleeworker has physically inspected the old ones,according to jail policy.
Harper said she’s heard multiple reports of people not receiving soap, deodorant, or cleaning supplies for their cell and common areas, leading to a buildup of dirt and bacteria on people and surfaces alike. The showers have cockroaches and feeble water pressure, she added. Men wash their clothes in the sink when they can’t get clean laundry.Women on their periods are supposed to receive free pads and tampons from caseworkers, but Harper said detainees told her those supplies don’t always make it to women in time.
“If they have mercy on you, they’ll get it to you when they get it to you,” she said.
Hayward, however, is optimistic that some of the strategies he implemented at the county jail could also work in the city. For example, on days when the county jail was too short-staffed for detainees to get out for rec hour, he instructed shift captains to let people out for the few minutes they needed to take a shower.
“If they don’t get out all day,” he said, “we gotta at least give them a shower.”
Cuyahoga County, Ohio
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The Cuyahoga County Jail doesn’t have enough showers. The jail has been cited by the Ohio Bureau of Adult Detention year after year for not meeting the state’s standard of one shower for every dozen beds.
From June 2024 to June 2025, there were 334 work orders placed for malfunctioning or unusable showers, with complaints ranging from clogged drains and no water, to black mold in the shower with a leaking ceiling, according to records obtained by The Marshall Project.
Even if the jail cleared the backlog, it woudl still fall short of its requirement because some of its cells are holding two people, which exceeds the state’s ratio, Jennifer Ciaccia, press secretary for the Cuyahoga County department of Communications, wrote in an email. Aging infrastructure exacerbates the strain on the jail’s plumbing system, Ciaccia added, leading to “frequent malfunctions.”
Detainees — some of whom can spend months awaiting trial — are responsible for cleaning the showers and other parts of the facility. But there is no set cleaning schedule,Ciaccia noted. Corrections officers are tasked with ensuring that the housing units are cleaned daily, and that showers are powerwashed “regularly.” Officers are required to provide residents with cleaning supplies, including solutions, mops, brooms, scrub pads, and toilet brushes.
Despite the mandate, detainees consistently complain of filthy conditions, including scratches and dirt on surfaces, repulsive sinks, and toilets caked in body fluids and grime. Staying clean is hard, they said, because the water pressure is so weak you can’t wash your hands. One detainee said he had to use the same spoon for every meal, cleaning it in the sink attached to his toilet.
In August, Tianetta Carter spent several days in jail after being arrested for a domestic violence charge. She refused to shower, she said, as the stalls were filthy. The toilets were so dirty, she asked for menstrual pads from a corrections officer so she could clean them first. Every time she went to the bathroom, she said she had to ask a corrections officer for toilet paper, and she was held in a cell where the toilet was backed up for hours.
“No matter how much they clean it, it’s still bad,” she said. “It’s so bad.”
Hinds County,Mississippi
When court-appointed monitors walked through Hinds County’s Raymond detention Center in 2022,they found a myriad of deplorable conditions: broken toilets and showers,empty cells used as dumpsters,mice and people sleeping on floors in general areas,with no access to toilets. One thing particularly troubled a monitor about the cleanliness of a housing unit: Two men had been found covered in feces.
three years later — even though the dumpster cells have been cleaned up and the most problematic housing unit is closed — monitors said the jail is getting worse.
“the Hinds County jail system has regressed over the past two-and-a-half years,” monitor David Parrish said in an August court hearing.
People detained there described vile conditions: smells of sewage, limited access to showers, toilets and laundry facilities.
The jail’s sanitation problem is just one symptom of larger operational failures, said Kathryn Bryan, who was the jail’s administrator in 2021. It is indeed a reflection of the jail’s many other issues: overcrowding, understaffing, gang control and crumbling infrastructure.The jail has a well-documented history of negligence. In October, a court-appointed federal receiver took control to manage the jail’s budget and day-to-day operations.
Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones declined to comment on the conditions, citing pending litigation and the incoming receivership.
“There’s nothing clean about that place,” said Tedrick Francois, who spent two weeks in jail this summer, after being arrested for allegedly attempting to deposit the same checks more than once. He was first held for hours in a dark holding cell with about 20 others. He remembers a broken toilet overflowing and spilling human waste onto the floor. His housing unit had one functioning shower, the monitoring report found.
Reports by court-appointed monitors say the jail is severely understaffed, with 71 corrections officers, about one-third of the number necessary to operate the facility. In the gaps, incarcerated people take control. “Pod bosses” control the
Raymond Detention Center Faces Scrutiny Over Inhumane Conditions and Exploitation
Recent reports and court documents reveal disturbing conditions at the Raymond Detention Center (RDC) in Mississippi, highlighting allegations of systemic exploitation, inadequate healthcare, and dehumanizing treatment of incarcerated individuals. These issues raise serious concerns about human rights and the effectiveness of the facility’s oversight, even under a consent decree intended to improve conditions.
Commissary Costs and Basic Needs
Families of those incarcerated at RDC are burdened with critically important costs to ensure their loved ones have access to basic necessities. Nicole Shelton, mother of an RDC inmate awaiting trial for a murder charge, reports spending approximately $50 per week on commissary items like snacks, soap, and extra toilet paper. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/05/09/mississippi-jail-conditions-lawsuit Her son, who suffers from irritable bowel syndrome, requires more toilet paper than the single roll provided weekly. Shelton also alleges that hygiene products are frequently stolen or confiscated by corrections officers during shakedowns.
“I know that they’re in jail, but they are human beings, and they deserve at least basic care,” Shelton stated, emphasizing her determination to prevent her son from becoming “a casualty of war.”
Systemic Exploitation and Abuse
Court documents, as detailed in reports by The Marshall Project, paint a grim picture of exploitation within RDC. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26125720-18th-monitoring-report-raymond-detention-center/#document/p13/a2672232
* Denial of Food: Two individuals in isolation were found severely underweight and covered in feces after being denied food by “pod bosses” who controlled access.
* Extortion for Basic Sanitation: Inmates were reportedly assaulted for urinating in the shower after refusing to pay for access to a toilet. Others were forced to defecate in the showers for the same reason.
these incidents suggest a breakdown in security and a power dynamic where incarcerated individuals are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
Psychological Impact of Dehumanizing Conditions
Former detainee Francois described the experience of being held at RDC as deeply dehumanizing and desensitizing. He noted that prolonged exposure to such conditions can lead to emotional numbness and a loss of empathy. “You grow numb,” he said.”If you’re in there long enough, I can see how quickly you become an animal or a person who doesn’t care as much about people as you did when you went in there.”
Consent Decree and Ongoing Concerns
The Raymond Detention Center has been operating under a consent decree sence 2016, following a lawsuit alleging unconstitutional conditions. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26125717-order-amending-rdc-consent-decree/#document/p104/a2672211 The decree aimed to address issues of overcrowding, inadequate medical care, and excessive force. However, recent reports indicate that these problems persist, raising questions about the effectiveness of the court-ordered reforms. The 18th monitoring report,filed in February 2024,details ongoing deficiencies in staffing,medical care,and safety.
Key takeaways
* Exploitation: inmates at RDC are vulnerable to exploitation, including denial of basic necessities and physical abuse.
* Inadequate Resources: Families bear a significant financial burden to provide incarcerated loved ones with essential items.
* Psychological Harm: The conditions at RDC can have a detrimental psychological impact on detainees.
* Consent Decree Concerns: Despite a consent decree intended to improve conditions, significant problems remain.
Looking Ahead
The ongoing issues at the Raymond Detention Center demand immediate attention and comprehensive reform. Effective oversight, increased accountability for staff, and adequate funding for resources like medical care and sanitation are crucial steps toward ensuring the humane treatment of incarcerated individuals. further investigation and potential legal action may be necessary to enforce the terms of the consent decree and address the systemic problems plaguing the facility. The situation at RDC serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for criminal justice reform and a commitment to upholding the dignity of all people, irrespective of their legal status.