SHUT DOWN THE DEADLY KING COUNTY JAIL
Seattle’s King County Jail is one of the Deadliest in the Nation.
King County Executive Dow Constantine promised to shut down the “decrepit” jail in 2020. Since then 10 more people have died or been killed while detained.
OUR CENTRAL DEMAND:
SHUT DOWN THE KING COUNTY JAIL PERMANENTLY AS DOW PROMISED.
The people in King County Jail are often locked up for mental illness, homelessness, or inability to post bail. Here are three steps county and city officials can take NOW to start emptying this deadly jail.
-
1. STOP JAILING
STOP jailing all people experiencing mental health crises and release those currently jailed.
-
2. PROHIBIT ADMISSION
PROHIBIT police from seeking jail admission for those experiencing mental health crisis.
-
3. STOP IMPOSING BAIL
STOP IMPOSING BAIL which only functions to hold poor people in this deadly facility.
WHY THE JAIL MUST CLOSE:
The number of Downtown Seattle King County Jail deaths rivals even the most deadly federal prisons. Since 2020, more that 14 people have died, including the recent violent death of a 63 year-old Black Seattle resident experiencing a mental health crisis. Michael Rowland was put in a deadly restraint, knees on his back, and unresponsive, was left to die on the floor. He died minutes after being booked into the jail.
THE JAIL IS DEADLY
The jail is deadly. It has an “astronomical” suicide rate of 8x the national average, and people die from other preventable deaths as well (such as by overdose, or after restraint by jail staff). The age of the jail causes all sorts of problems, from bed frames that can easily be used for suicide to brown, non-potable water coming out of the sinks. It’s time to close this life-threatening facility. The longer we keep it open, the more people will die.
JAIL TIME INCREASES THE RISK OF OVERDOSE UPON RELEASE
Just as punitive responses to drug use have driven incarceration, substantial evidence suggests that incarceration is associated with increased risk for overdose death. Research has confirmed that overdose is the leading cause of death among people recently released from prisons, as well as the third leading cause of deaths in custody in U.S. jails.
THE JAIL IS BEING USED TO WAREHOUSE PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS
In December 2022 King County Superior Court heard oral arguments on King County’s legal action against the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) for unconstitutionally leaving mentally ill defendants in the county jail.
More than 100 people deemed incompetent to stand trial are waiting behind bars at the King County Jail for a bed at Western State Hospital in Lakewood. In all cases, a judge has ordered them to receive mental health treatment aimed at regaining competency to participate in their defense. But none of those waiting has received treatment yet.
BIPOC ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY REPRESENTED IN KING COUNTY JAIL
The jail drives racial disparities, with BIPOC people disproportionately represented. Black people make up only 7% of the population of King County, but average over 36% of the adults incarcerated in county adult facilities. The average length of time that Black people stay in King County jails is 40% longer that other people in custody. In contrast, the average stay in jail for white people is 25% shorter than for other populations.
RESEARCH SHOWS EVEN A SINGLE DAY IN JAIL CAN HARM PEOPLE IRREVOCABLY
Recent research indicates that spending any more than one day in pretrial detention can have devastating consequences, dramatically worsening individuals’ social, psychological, economic, and penal trajectories. This is not just because detention increases the likelihood of conviction on current charges and leads to more severe sentences with conviction, although it does both. Pretrial detention also significantly and substantially erodes individuals’ physical and psychological well-being; reduces employment, wages, and annual earnings; increases the burden of legal financial obligations, often shared with family members, and increases the likelihood of future criminal legal system involvement. —Harvard Kennedy School Center for Social Policy
BIPOC ARE MORE HARSHLY PUNISHED IN KING COUNTY JAIL
A year-long audit of King County adult jails found widespread racial bias in housing and discipline. Black inmates received 23% more infractions than other people, and the punishment was more severe. The audit found Black women were punished with 70% more days in restrictive housing compared to other women; Black men received 24% longer punishments. Indigenous women also faced harsher punishment, spending 18% more days in restrictive housing compared to other women.
PROVIDING PEOPLE SERVICES KEEPS THEM OUT OF JAIL
Countless studies have shown that providing people with services reduces the likelihood that they will end up in jail. See, e.g., these studies on providing mental health services, public health insurance, education, and housing, to give just a few examples.
THE JAIL IS EXPENSIVE
The County Council’s budget for the jail totals nearly $500 million for the next two years. Seattle pays roughly $555/night to keep people in the jail psych ward. Imagine if we spent this money helping the jailed people and their communities instead!
THE ACLU HAD TO SUE KING COUNTY AGAIN FOR INHUMANE JAIL CONDITIONS.
Conditions at the downtown Seattle jail have deteriorated so much over the last year that King County is violating a legal agreement to protect the health and safety of people incarcerated there, civil liberties lawyers say.
The ACLU of Washington filed a lawsuit Friday afternoon in Pierce County Superior Court that argues King County, which runs the downtown Seattle jail, and its executive, Dow Constantine, have breached a longstanding settlement agreement that mandates adequate staffing and safeguards arrestees’ access to medical care and court hearings. —Sydney Brownstone, The Seattle Times