Idaho attorney sues for release of nine Elmore County inmates due to coronavirus concerns

An Idaho Falls attorney has asked the Idaho Supreme Court to intervene on behalf of nine women being held in the Elmore County jail in unsanitary conditions during a nationwide coronavirus pandemic.

The women are being held on pending charges for nonviolent offenses, or probation or parole violations. Due to the virus outbreak and a state-mandated stay-home order, court proceedings have been reduced and the women have been unable to get court hearings since their arrests.

Poor jail conditions have put the women at risk of contracting coronavirus, attorney Nathan Olsen stated in a habeas corpus petition he filed Friday on behalf of the women.

Habeas corpus — meaning “have the body” — is a detainee’s right to go before the court to determine if the detention is lawful. Olsen is calling for an immediate court appearance for the women, or their release.

In addition to not being given a hearing, the women are being held in unsanitary conditions contrary to current coronavirus guidelines, Olsen argues.

On March 23, the Centers for Disease Control issued coronavirus guidelines for prisons and jails.

“The guidelines emphasize the critical need for free and abundant soap, disinfectant and other cleaning supplies,” Olsen wrote.

Elmore County Sheriff Mike Hollinshead wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Olsen said the women lack access to hand sanitizer and soap for hand-washing and resources to sanitize their surroundings. They also can’t practice safe distancing because they spend 23 hours a day in a 12-foot-by-25-foot room, he said. Soap and some personal cleaning supplies are available for purchase “at an inflated price,” but these products are “low-grade quality and virtually ineffective,” Olsen said.

Additionally, the nine women share one toilet and one shower; their room is not regularly cleaned or sanitized; each are provided one bowl and one fork but no means to clean them; and their clothing is laundered only twice a week. “Typically, the clothing is not washed with detergent and are returned soiled or unclean,” Olsen stated.

At least two of the inmates “have underlying health conditions that makes them especially vulnerable,” Olsen told the Statesman.

“No detectable measures have been taken to protect the petitioners since the outbreak of the COVID-19. Petitioners have received no health or screening measures to check for symptoms of COVID-19,” he stated.

Olsen told the court “the current conditions of confinement constitute a clear and present violation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution banning cruel and unusual punishment.”

“I am going to push for release, because under these extreme circumstances that is really the only feasible remedy that will protect the safety of these individuals,” Olsen said.

This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 3:45 PM.