Delaware’s Prison Health Problems Attract Federal Investigators

DOVER, Del. — The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the Delaware prison system following complaints from people who say they are not getting full or accurate medical reports on incarcerated family members.

According to a Justice Department letter sent to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, the investigation will determine whether there are systemic violations of prisoners’ constitutional rights, focusing on inmates’ medical and mental health care. Assistant U.S. Attorney General Wan J. Kim’s letter explained that the civil rights regulators who will investigate “conditions of confinement” at five state prisons in Delaware will “consider all relevant information,” including the state’s efforts to “ensure compliance with federal law.” According to the letter, the investigation could yield recommendations on ways “to improve conditions at the institutions, when appropriate.”

The initial complaints by citizens centered upon the state’s refusal to make public an audit of the prison health care system, either to the public or to legislators. That audit, commissioned by the state, was cited as part of the state’s justification for awarding a $25.9 million no-bid contract for inmate health care to Correctional Medical Services.

A series of investigative reports over the course of six months in late 2005 by The News Journal newspaper uncovered a wide range of problems — some of them potentially criminal — in the state prison system’s inmate health care. Among those problems were cases in which neglected medical conditions and failures to safely guard suicidal inmates led to inmate deaths. In another case, the family of an inmate, whom officials claim committed suicide, believes he may have actually been murdered.

The federal investigation announced in March followed a five-month preliminary inquiry, which included a formal look into many of the published accounts of failures. At the outset, both Gov. Minner and state Correction Commissioner Stanley Taylor argued that such an inquiry was unnecessary and that reported accounts were misleading.

Now that the initial inquiry has led to an investigation, both the governor and commissioner Taylor say they plan to cooperate fully.

Corrections experts and attorneys from the Special Litigation Section of the Department of Justice will staff the investigation. Ultimately, the Justice Department will have the option of dismissing the allegations, filing a complaint, or reaching a settlement or consent decree with the state.

If the Justice Department files a complaint, the state must adequately address it, or it could face a federal lawsuit. Historically, the Special Litigation Section has never lost a case of this sort.

Currently, there is pending legislation in the state General Assembly that would require prompt notification of an inmate’s family of a health emergency or death. Other proposed bills that have not yet been formally introduced plan to create a health care inspector general position and switch to cost-plus contracts to limit vendors’ incentives to save money at the expense of quality.