DB v. Tewksbury

The Columbia County Correctional Facility (facility) was a bare-bones adult jail with an admitted institutional philosophy of trying to make jail a punishment. In addition to adult pretrial detainees and prisoners, the facility housed juvenile pretrial detainees and juvenile status offenders (i.e., juveniles who were being detained for allegedly violating laws that were not considered crimes and that applied only to minors, such as being a runaway). The facility did not house convicted juvenile offenders. The facility was understaffed, and the existing staff did not have any special training for handling juveniles. The facility also did not have any programs or written policies for handling juveniles, leading to arbitrary decisions by the jailers. At the facility, the juveniles were denied basic privacy for bodily functions and showering, including exposure to members of the opposite sex. The juveniles were also denied any access to phones, underwear, writing or recreation materials, natural light, and opportunities to exercise. The juveniles had limited, inconsistent access to family or other visitors, attorneys, nutritious food, medical care, and protection from harm. Juveniles, including some of the younger children, were sometimes placed in severe conditions, including isolation cells with potentially malfunctioning sewer holes for any bodily needs, without a consistent policy for the action. DB and other juveniles who were detained at the facility (plaintiffs) filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court. The lawsuit sought (1) a declaration that holding juveniles at the facility was unconstitutional and (2) an injunction preventing any juveniles from being housed there in the future.