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 Judge Johanna Bender 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 issues with 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.
THE JAIL STAFFING CRISIS IS A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
The jail faces chronic and worsening staff shortages despite generous hiring bonuses for guards. As guards are the access point for all basic human needs, the staffing crisis becomes a humanitarian crisis as inmates have faced prolonged waits or been denied drinkable water, medications and medical care, clean underwear, and access to representation among other needs:
“The ongoing water shutoff is just the most recent example of ongoing problems at the jail that have severely limited residents’ access to medical care, attorneys, and time outside their cells.” — Barnett, Publicola.
INCREASING ACCESS TO SERVICES REDUCES LIKELIHOOD OF INCARCERATION
Databases from 1990 through September 2019 for all experimental or quasi-experimental studies testing interventions pertaining to education, housing, healthcare, employment, or social support services and how they affected an individual's criminal legal outcomes identified 53 studies that demonstrated the efficacy of early childhood educational interventions and nurse-family partnership programs, post-secondary education for incarcerated students, navigation programs linking incarcerated people to community resources, and peer support upon release to reduce criminal legal system exposure.
WHY THE KING COUNTY JAIL MUST CLOSE
The number of Downtown Seattle King County Jail deaths rivals even that of 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.
Michael Rowland was killed in King County Jail on April 19th, 2022 after guards violently restrained him and left him on the floor to die.
