About 400 D.C. jail inmates to be transferred to a federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania because of unacceptable conditions, U.S. Marshals Service says

The U.S. Marshals Service plans to transfer about 400 inmates out of the D.C. jail to a federal prison nearly 200 miles from Washington after a recent surprise inspection found evidence of "Systemic" mistreatment of detainees, including unsanitary living conditions and the punitive denial of food and water, officials said.

The jail, formally known as the Central Detention Facility, houses about 1,500 detainees, of which roughly 400 are inmates awaiting court appearances in federal cases or post-sentencing assignment to federal prisons.

The move will not involve about 120 federal detainees, including about 40 defendants who face federal charges in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, who are being held in the corrections department's Correctional Treatment Facility, the Marshals Service said.

Ruffin, who ordered the inspection, said that conditions at the CTF "Were observed to be largely appropriate and consistent with federal prisoner detention standards," and that the problems were primarily in the main jail.

The transferred inmates will be farther from their families and defense lawyers and the federal courthouse in Washington.

The unannounced inspection, from Oct. 18 to Oct. 23, began five days after a federal judge in Washington found the jail warden, Wanda Patten, and D.C. Corrections Director Quincy Booth in contempt of court in a case involving the alleged mistreatment of a detainee charged in the Capitol riot.

Lawyers, judges, detainees and others have long criticized conditions at the 45-year-old jail.
 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/dc-jail-inmates-transferred/2021/11/02/b5255388-3be8-11ec-bfad-8283439871ec_story.html