U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis on Thursday threw out a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota that blamed overcrowded conditions and mismanagement at the women's federal prison in Waseca for 70% of the prisoners contracting the COVID-19 virus.
Davis did not address the prisoners' claims of mistreatment, dismissing the suit on procedural grounds. But he left the door open for the ACLU to refile it.
"He is not washing his hands of these people," said Joseph Daly, emeritus professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law. "He has essentially told the ACLU it can reframe their complaint and file it correctly under the proper causes of action."
Clare Diegel, a state ACLU staff attorney, said they were disappointed by Davis' decision.
"While there have been promising developments in the fight against COVID-19, our clients and others in prison who have underlying conditions and have not all been offered the vaccine remain at unnecessary risk while they are incarcerated," Diegel said. "We are considering our options."
The suit, filed in December on behalf of 12 inmates at Waseca, had asked for an injunction and sought class-action status so that it would apply to more than the 12 inmates listed in the legal action.
In his decision, Davis wrote the ACLU was raising two separate claims: unlawful detention in violation of habeas corpus and a civil complaint over conditions of confinement. But established law doesn't allow the two claims to be combined in a single suit, he said.
If prisoners are held under illegal conditions of confinement such as overcrowding they must bring the complaint under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, Davis wrote, which requires prisoners to seek a hearing before a three-judge panel. The law also requires there be evidence of a prior court order that failed to remedy the problem, he wrote.
