[Baltimore Sun] After missed deadlines, ‘unacceptably slow’ progress, Maryland gets more time to fix Baltimore pretrial jail
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Having missed its most recent deadline and fallen short on eight of 10 main provisions of an agreement to overhaul its health care system, the Baltimore City Booking and Intake Center received another two years from a federal judge on Friday.
Stemming from a decades-old case that has spanned multiple governors and judges, the extension gives the state, which oversees the facility, until June 30, 2026, to improve conditions for pretrial detainees.
Over the years, complaints have included a lack of timely medical assessments, the inability to get a regular supply of medications to control chronic conditions such as diabetes and shortages of supplies and equipment for the disabled, such as wheelchairs.
An agreement between the American Civil Liberties Union and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services that was approved in 2016 called for a series of improvements under 10 main categories. Among the areas targeted were medical and mental health care, “physical plant issues,” accessibility and personal hygiene for persons with disabilities, building maintenance, housekeeping, and sanitation, according to court documents.
“Eight years after entering the agreement, and four years after its initial expiration date, [the state has] achieved substantial compliance with only two out of the agreement’s ten substantive provisions,” U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox wrote in his order.
“Their progress toward compliance has been unacceptably slow,” wrote Maddox, the fourth judge to preside over the case.
While state officials “believe themselves to be in substantial compliance with the remaining eight substantive provisions,” Maddox wrote, “the most recent monitor reports tell a different story.”
The judge conceded that the state had made partial progress, and that they were ” impeded to some extent by the unforeseen advent the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.in part by the COVID pandemic.”
The original lawsuit in the case dates back to 1971, and has been through a series of modifications, agreements and missed deadlines.
In April 2023, the medical expert appointed by the court to monitor the state’s progress on the agreement said officials were nowhere near meeting the most recent deadline, June 2024.
The monitor, Dr. Michael Puisis, reported at the time that those incarcerated in the jail now had daily opportunities to ask for health care, requests that usually were responded to on a timely basis. There was also progress on establishing a mobile urgent care team, bathrooms that had been renovated to be accessible to those with disabilities and upgraded infirmary beds.
But he noted, the facility still used an outdated medical record system, which led to some people having two or three different records and even people who were alive being listed as “deceased.”
There were also issues getting referrals to specialists, and problems getting COVID vaccines and insulin.
In August 2023, additional documents filed in the case again warned that the state was not going to meet the June 2024 deadline. Dr. Jeffrey Metzner, the appointed monitor for behavioral health care, reported that people in the inpatient mental health unit were still being housed in near-isolation conditions and about a third were waiting prolonged times for scarce state hospital beds.
Maddox said the two-year extension will give the state “ample time to achieve full compliance.” Additionally, the extra monitoring fees and the setting of interim deadlines will also give the state “necessary incentives” to meet the long-standing goals.
While the state has until June 2026 under the latest extension, Maddox, who took over the case in January, dangled at least the possibility that it may not need all that time.
“If [state officials] demonstrate full compliance before the agreement expires,” Maddox wrote, “then the monitoring and enforcement period may conclude at that point.”
Have a news tip? Contact Jean Marbella at jmarbella@baltsun.com.
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