News
DRSC is a Plaintiff in Two New Lawsuits Aiming to Fix Systemic Problems in the Institutionalization of and Inhumane Treatment of People with Disabilities
April 29, 2022
On Wednesday April 27, 2022 a lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina alleging horrific living conditions for the more than 250 children detained by the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Children held in DJJ facilities are routinely subjected to violence, months-long isolation in solitary confinement, and a lack of meaningful educational or mental health services, according to the lawsuit, which was brought on behalf of the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, Disability Rights South Carolina, and Justice 360. The lawsuit, was filed jointly by the ACLU of South Carolina, the NAACP, and the law firms Wyche and Jenner & Block.
On Thursday April 28, 2022 Disability Rights South Carolina filed a lawsuit against Richland County regarding brutal, inhumane and unconstitutional conditions at the overcrowded and understaffed county jail. Complaints from detainees, their attorneys and loved ones have been disregarded by the detention center for years, says the lawsuit, adding that these practices violate accepted detention center standards, as well as the Fourth Amendment’s mandate that anyone in pretrial custody be protected from harm and not subjected to punishment, among other constitutional and statutory provisions. The lawsuit is filed in the U.S. District Court for South Carolina. Burnette Shutt & McDaniel attorneys Stuart Andrews, Nekki Shutt and Sarah J.M. Cox are representing Disability Rights South Carolina in the case.