AUSTIN (1080 KRLD) - Inmates in the Texas geriatric prison in Navasota are hoping the US Supreme Court will do what the State wouldn’t. That would be to allow them to have supplies to help fend off the coronavirus.
Back in late March two prisoners from the Wallace Pack Unit filed the lawsuit after the virus-related death of a 62-year old inmate. The suit alleges the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has failed to take measures to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 to its most vulnerable inmates.
In mid-April US District Judge Keith Ellison ruled in favor of the inmates ordering the TDCJ to provide them with masks, soap and cleaning supplies to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The State appealed that decision, arguing that their limited supply masks and cleaning supplies were reserved for those medical officials fighting on the front lines of the pandemic. One week later a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled in favor of Texas, reversing the lower court decision.
Now the two inmates have decided to appeal their case to the US Supreme Court. Their attorney, John Keville says he hopes the highest court takes up the case before it’s too late. “One of the reasons that we filed for the inmates in this prison particularly was this facility is a geriatric facility where the majority of the inmates there are over 65…many of them are over 75 and have other health conditions that make them particularly susceptible to COVID-19.”