Judge Rozier on Unconstitutional Prison Conditions
Civil rights groups and the state have two weeks to come up with a plan to test every person incarcerated in North Carolina.
Judge Vinston Rozier Jr. of Wake County Superior Court ruled Monday that the conditions inside North Carolina’s prisons were likely unconstitutional due to the state’s failure to provide substantial testing for COVID-19 to people in its prisons and for not following public health guidelines for limiting the spread of disease.
“We’re hopeful this ruling will help prevent further loss of life by forcing state officials to implement safety measures and release people from these dangerous conditions,” Leah Kang, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, said in a press release. The ACLU is one of several civil rights groups representing the plaintiffs in the case.
