Half Dozen Judges Act On Freezing BK Jail's 'Humanitarian Crisis'

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — The power outage that left inmates at a Brooklyn federal prison shivering and without the ability to contact lawyers or family members has drawn the attention of several judges and a lawsuit calling the situation a "humanitarian crisis."

One of the judges, Analisa Torres, will tour the jail on Tuesday along with someone from the federal defenders office, the New York Times reported. Another judge ordered the Metropolitan Detention Center to allow inmates to meet with their lawyers as the courts consider the lawsuit, which claimed the lack of communication with attorneys violated the prisoner's civil rights.

And, at least four other federal judges in Brooklyn and Manhattan will call hearings to examine the complaints against the jail, the Times said.

The legal actions come after a weekend of protests outside the jail after loved ones and attorneys learned inmates were being kept in cells virtually without heat or electricity following a Jan. 27 electrical fire.

"There is a humanitarian crisis taking place at the main federal detention facility in
this District," the lawsuit alleges. "The Defendants' deprivation of MDC detainees' constitutional rights has caused and is causing irreparable harm to the Federal Defenders and its clients."

Power was restored Sunday evening, but the U.S. Department of Justice is still investigating how the situation was handled.

The lawsuit claims that MDC and the Federal Bureau of Prisons were "woefully inadequate" in dealing with the aftermath of the fire.

Lawyers heard from their clients — including some attorneys who were able to tour the facility during the power outage — that the fire had caused little or no heating, hot water, electricity or access to certain medical services, telephones, computers, televisions or commissary.

But prison officials, the lawsuit claims, continued to send out "false and/or misleading" statements about how heat, hot water and medical services were still being provided despite the electricity problems.

The lawsuit faced its first hearing on Monday, where a judge ordered that the inmates legal visits resume. The order will continue until a hearing on Feb. 13, when a different judge would take up the suit, the Times reported.

The Times also reported that Torres, who is scheduled to tour the facility after a hearing about the inmate's claims, denied a request from prison officials to delay the hearing. The officials claimed that conditions in the jail are still changing and that prison personnel are "fully occupied" with bringing the facility back to full operation.

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