ArchCity Defenders Sues St. Charles County Jail For Abuse

ST. CHARLES, MO — ArchCity Defenders, a legal advocacy group, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the St. Charles County Jail on behalf of two men who were held there. Eric Smith and Ali Qandah said they were subjected to excessive force and arbitrary solitary confinement and deprived of access to medical care after being jailed because they could not afford to pay fines or post bail. The director of the facility and a number of corrections officers are also named in the suit.

“While Mr. Smith and Mr. Qandah’s individual claims expose unlawful and egregious actions, we have reason to believe that they are centered within a broader context of abusive and unconstitutional practices within St. Charles County Jail,” said Blake Strode, ArchCity Defender's executive director. “It is clear from Mr. Smith and Mr. Qandah’s experiences, and the history of claims against SCCJ, that direct and systemic change is needed if the jail is to be held to the standards of the law.”

According to court documents, Smith said an officer slammed his head into a metal stool and that he received inadequate medical care for his injury. Despite complaining of head aches and nausea, Smith was forced to wait three months to receive an MRI scan. When he did, it revealed serious bleeding in his brain. He later underwent a high-risk surgery to drain the blood inside his skull. He credits that surgery with narrowly saving his life.

Smith, a 36-year-old black man from north St. Louis County, was in jail because he could not afford to pay a traffic fine.

“If I don’t have the money to pay, it’s time for me to go to jail? That’s not fair or legal, yet my whole life in St. Louis I’ve had to try to escape from jail time or fight to get out of jail just based off of not having the money. I was sentenced to do time in St. Charles County Jail because I couldn’t afford to pay this fine and I almost died,” Smith said.

Ali Qandah, a 29-year-old Muslim man, said corrections officers harassed him because of his religion — calling him a "terrorist" and "camel jockey" — and intentionally unlocked his cell so that another inmate could attack him. The lawsuit claims that officers encouraged the attack by calling Qandah a "snitch" over the jail's intercom. After the attack, Qandah was held in solitary confinement for eight months without hearings, due process, or any contact from his family.

Qandah said he was maced on three different occasions. One of the times, Qandah said he refused to switch cells after already being forced to switch cells five times in a short period. After being maced, he was bound to a chair for hours without being allowed to wash the burning chemicals off his face.

He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to probation after spending more than 11 months in jail because he couldn't afford bail. He maintains he didn't commit the crime he was accused of, but only pleaded guilty to end his ordeal. His lawyers say he is psychologically traumatized and indicate he may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Solitary confinement is like death, but you’re still breathing,” Qandah said. “Since my release, I tend to panic when I’m confined in small rooms for long periods of time..."

The lawsuit details a history of abuses at St. Charles County Jail, including the death of an inmate in 2013 and a host of other stories that sound very similar to Qandah's and Smith's.

“How many people have been jailed because they were poor and ended up injured, jobless, and scarred for life?" Smith said. "I decided to stand up against St. Charles Jail because I didn’t want anyone to suffer the way I have.”

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