SR 8 (LSB 2457XS (8) 90)

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 8

BY  SALMON, ZAUN, WESTRICH, KRAAYENBRINK, GUTH, and ALONS

A Resolution urging the federal government to investigate and arrest officials in charge of the District of Columbia Jail (jail) operated by the District of Columbia Department of Corrections in Washington, D.C., for violations of the United States Constitution and of federal law.

   WHEREAS, on the morning of January 6, 2021, thousands of citizens gathered peacefully in Washington, D.C., to support the President of the United States Donald J. Trump; and
   WHEREAS, around noon on January 6, 2021, President Donald Trump gave a speech to the individuals that were gathered, and stated later on in his speech, that they were going to peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard during their protest near the United States Capitol; and
   WHEREAS, citizens made their way to the Capitol and multiple arrests were made for those who became violent and trespassed at the Capitol, and many of these individuals are being held in the jail; and
   WHEREAS, the charges made against those arrested were obstruction of Congress of the United States and official proceedings, assault and interference with law enforcement, using a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct, and parading, among other charges; and
   WHEREAS, these are serious charges that are being investigated, court proceedings are being held, and if and when found guilty the appropriate sentence according to the law is being and should be issued and carried out; and
   WHEREAS, the federal Department of Justice, with the consent of federal judges in Washington, D.C., has kept many of the individuals who entered the Capitol or were involved in the attack on January 6 in prison awaiting trials that are months from beginning or until the prisoners accept a plea deal; and
   WHEREAS, most of these individuals do not hold a felony history, yet they have been denied bond; and
   WHEREAS, while in pretrial detention, reports have been leaked that have raised substantial questions regarding the absolutely tortuous squalor and cruel, abusive, and unconscionable living conditions imposed on these prisoners and whether the rights of prisoners have been denied and whether even the most basic care needs of human beings are being withheld; and
   WHEREAS, living in this jail is “like living in a third-world country”, according to Ned Lang, the father of one detainee, because the conditions are so “appalling”; and
   WHEREAS, according to Joseph McBride, an attorney for one of the individuals who was arrested on January 6 and detained in the jail, the prisoners are “held in shoebox-size cells for long periods of time”; and
   WHEREAS, reports say the prisoners are held in solitary confinement for 23 to 24 hours a day, and suffer mental, physical, social, legal, and spiritual abuse, which has led them to suffer permanent mental damage and a high reliance on anti-anxiety and anti-depressant drugs; and
   WHEREAS, reports say prisoners are given strict standards for keeping their cells in order, and are stripped of the little recreational and out-of-cell activity time which they are granted, if they fall slightly short of those standards; and
   WHEREAS, according to attorney Joseph McBride, “There is a pattern of abuse and of targeting of the defendants who are being held pursuant to what happened on Jan. 6. He stated, “It is targeted. It is ruthless. It is nonstop.”; and
   WHEREAS, reports say that random handcuffing and beating, pepper spray sprayed in the face, and face slamming into the concrete floors of the jail have all been acts of violent physical abuse by prison guards at the jail; and
   WHEREAS, reports also say the victims of abuse have suffered extreme physical damage including one victim who suffered a blind eye, detached retina, and fractured skull from a severe beating from an officer, while another suffered a broken finger; and
   WHEREAS, reports say prisoners struggle to receive treatment for these injuries and they are also denied proper medical care for both major and minor health issues including cancer; and
   WHEREAS, prisoners missed medical appointments for illness care and surgery and have experienced delays in medical appointments and procedures, due to the delay of jail officials in fulfilling the required procedures; and
   WHEREAS, Christopher Worrell, a prisoner, was denied access to his prescription medications to treat his cancer, a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and was unable to see an oncologist for months while in jail, and during his time in jail his cancer progressed from stage 1 to 3 cancer; and
   WHEREAS, reports indicate countless prisoners have also suffered mental torture from threats, agonizing verbal harassment, and racial and religious discrimination from the prison guards, along with the mental anguish that results from severe isolation; and
   WHEREAS, reports indicate religious services, which are protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, are not provided to prisoners, and prisoners who have attempted to organize them have been harshly confronted and severely beaten by officers; and
   WHEREAS, reports also indicate the prisoners have lacked proper communication with their family members, friends, and loved ones, which has caused a decline in their emotional and psychological health; and
   WHEREAS, according to attorney Steven Metcalf II, who represents several of the defendants from the January 6 Capitol incident, conditions in the jail are “unconstitutional” and are “violating every single basic human right”; and
   WHEREAS, while speaking about one of his defendants, Jake Lang, Metcalf also shared that “the water [provided to the prisoners] is black [and] he has to filter the water through a sock in order to even drink water”; and
   WHEREAS, reports indicate that the prisoners have experienced the following while in the jail: excessive heat; lead paint inside the cells; mold-covered walls, floors, vents, and showers; rusty pipes and desks; broken sinks and toilets; cockroaches; mice; black sewage flies inside the cells and showers; and raw sewage that has overflowed into the cells multiple times, causing human fecal matter to flood the rooms, resulting in unlivable conditions that defy the federal regulations; and
   WHEREAS, reports also indicate detainees are often denied a chance to shower, which is a basic humanitarian need, and they are not allowed to shave or obtain a haircut, unless they have received the COVID-19 vaccine; and
   WHEREAS, the COVID-19 vaccine has also been required for visitations and access to speak to a lawyer; and
   WHEREAS, reports indicate that in addition to these deplorable conditions, the prisoners are given small and insufficient portions of the same food almost on a daily basis, they suffer the lack of clean water, and are often left suffering from starvation, weakness, nausea, malnutrition, hair loss, eye loss, scurvy, and other nutritional deficiencies because of it; and
   WHEREAS, the right to legal access is a basic right for all Americans, yet detainees in the jail struggle to receive it or have an opportunity to speak with an attorney privately, which has made legal matters complicated for their attorneys; and
   WHEREAS, reports indicate that privileged legal documents have been confiscated from the cells of detainees and video evidence under attorney-client privilege has been taken and watched by jail employees; and
   WHEREAS, official government video footage that prisoners have a legal right to is being withheld from the public; and
   WHEREAS, prisoner Zach Rehl was held without bail and has been deprived of visits with his family and daughter, who he has not yet been able to meet; and
   WHEREAS, 34 January 6 prisoners have requested their transfer and residence at Guantanamo Bay, a detention facility that has held and still holds the most violent terrorists and criminals since they get far better treatment; and
   WHEREAS, journalists and visitors have been prohibited from entering the jail, as well as lawmakers who attempted to inspect the conditions of the prisoners in the jail, were turned away, and remain unable to inspect or enter the jail; and
   WHEREAS, many of the prisoners from the January 6 incident have been forced without trial to endure jail conditions for an unnecessary period of time, based on their crimes, that are far worse than what most convicted murderers and rapists have to endure, and would rival those conditions of the most notorious concentration camps of World War II, the gulags of the former Soviet Union, the prison camps of Communist China, and the torture camps of North Korea; and
   WHEREAS, the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution forbids the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment and federal law prescribes requirements for protecting prisoner rights and meeting basic human needs of prisoners; NOW THEREFORE,

   BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Iowa Senate condemns the actions of the Washington, D.C., jail and city officials and the federal government for the abject dereliction of duty to ensure cruel and unusual punishments are not inflicted and to ensure the proper rights due prisoners are respected, all outlined in the United States Constitution and federal law; and to ensure humanitarian care for the most basic human needs is given, for the January 6 prisoners; and

   BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Iowa Senate urges the administration of President Joseph Biden and the federal Department of Justice to investigate and arrest officials in charge of the District of Columbia Jail operated by the District of Columbia Department of Corrections in Washington, D.C., for violations of the United States Constitution and of federal law.