Santa Clara County Jail Inmates File Class-Action Lawsuit Alleging 'Inhumane Conditions'
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – Inmates at the Santa Clara County Jail have filed a class-action lawsuit, alleging that they were forced to live in "inhumane conditions."
Joseph Vejar is locked up in the main jail, awaiting trial for the last three years on drug charges. But his family said that doesn't give jailers the right to hold him in a tiny and filthy solitary confinement cell with little outside contact.
"This isn't rehabilitation, this is punishment. For conspiracy of drugs? I don't understand," said Benee Vejar, the inmate's wife.
The Prison Law Office said inmates suspected of having gang ties are being housed in the same maximum security conditions, some of the most inhumane the watchdog group has seen.
"The conditions in Santa Clara are worse that what we have seen in many other jails and they are certainly worse than we have seen in the state prison system," said Kelly Knapp of the Prison Law Office.
The group filed a class action lawsuit against Santa Clara County on behalf of hundreds of inmates, alleging their 14th Amendment rights to due process and basic human needs are being violated.
Knapp said, "The County is isolating people without human interactions, environmental stimulation, fresh air, sunlight, 22 to 24 hours a day for months or years at a time."
It's one of a mounting number of lawsuits and investigations targeted at the jail in the aftermath of the killing of mentally ill inmate Michael Tyree, allegedly at the hands of three jail guards last august.
"We have already taken steps to improve operations in our custody facilities," said Sgt. James Jensen of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office.
A spokesman read a statement from the sheriff, saying she appreciates the perspective of the Prison Law Office in ongoing efforts to improve practices and training.
But families say that's little comfort for their loved ones behind bars right now.
"Something needs to change. I can't believe this is happening here," Benee Vejar said. "I have lost all faith in the justice system. There is no justice."