Good afternoon, Chair Pinto and members of the Committee. My name is Melissa Wasser, and I am the Policy Counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia (ACLU-D.C.). I present the following testimony on behalf of our more than 15,000 members and supporters across the District.
The ACLU-D.C. is committed to working to dismantle systemic racism, safeguard fundamental liberties, and advocate for sensible, evidence-based criminal justice policies. Our testimony today addresses our key recommendations regarding the District’s Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget for the D.C. Department of Corrections (DOC) and the Corrections Information Council (CIC).
As we testified in early March during these agencies’ performance oversight hearing, improving oversight of DOC and CIC will help strengthen the agencies, especially given the corroborated and glaring evidence that these agencies are in serious need of overhaul and external accountability mechanisms.1 We believe that improving oversight starts with fully funding the Corrections Oversight Improvement Omnibus Amendment Act of 2022.
I. The Council should fully fund the Corrections Oversight Improvement Act of 2022 to improve oversight at both DOC and CIC.
While we are disappointed that the legislation was not funded in the Mayor’s proposed budget, we strongly urge the Committee to fund it so that the agencies can begin implementation in FY24. The Fiscal Impact Statement issued last November identified costs of between $575,000 and $596,000 each fiscal year, for a total of $2.3 million over the four-year financial window.
To ensure full implementation of the Corrections Oversight Improvement Omnibus Amendment Act of 2022, we request $222,000 in FY24 for a DOC Program Analyst and Auditor ($217,000) and for non-personnel spending ($5,000). DOC's Program Analyst will prepare documentation and records for the CIC. An additional Auditor is required to expand the hours when personnel from CIC or Council may inspect DOC facilities and will be accompanied by an Auditor during their inspections. This funding must be recurring, with additional budgetary investments to sustain these positions and contractors, adjusted for cost of living increases and inflation. Additional funds to fully implement the requirements of the bill should go to CIC.
To ensure full implementation of the Corrections Oversight Improvement Omnibus Amendment Act of 2022, CIC needs at least $353,000 to hire two Program Specialists ($243,000), for non-personnel spending ($10,000), and a contract for national policy experts to monitor national policy developments affecting correctional facilities and provide associated training to its staff ($100,000). As with the DOC, this funding must be recurring, with additional budgetary investments to sustain these positions and contractors, adjusted for cost of living increases and inflation.
Further, once the law goes into effect, the Council should follow up with CIC to ensure their full participation in line with the law’s requirements, including unannounced visits, reporting on resident deaths, and regular reporting. With proper implementation and full funding once the law goes into effect, the CIC can provide meaningful oversight of DOC.
II. The Committee should prioritize improving oversight due to the current state of the D.C. jail and the lack of CIC’s consistent oversight of DOC.
As we mentioned to this committee in March, residents inside the D.C. Jail facilities are still being subjected to inhumane living conditions, even after the U.S. Marshals found “systemic failures” at the Jail, including unsanitary living conditions and punitive denial of food and water.2 Residents lack running water, are being served inedible food in unsanitary conditions, and are experiencing flooding in their showers. These conditions will continue to exist until there is ongoing, concrete oversight by the Council or the court system that improves these heinous conditions.
During oversight, we also emphasized that residents at the D.C. Jail should not be given a potential death sentence due to a lack of medical care from DOC staff. Either directly or through partner organizations who regularly visit the Jail, ACLU-D.C. has also learned of numerous residents at the Jail who have serious medical needs that are not being met because of months-long delays in providing necessary medications, necessary equipment, or in taking individuals to doctors’ appointments after medical staff have identified the need for these measures.
As we have learned firsthand through our own litigation against the D.C. Jail, the Jail did not and will not make improvements unless there are court-appointed monitors and inspectors making changes on the ground. It is past time for the Council to act and hold DOC and CIC accountable for these well documented failures and unconscionable conditions.
ACLU-D.C. previously raised concerns about how CIC has handled its oversight role to date.5 Should the Corrections Oversight Improvement Omnibus Amendment Act of 2022 go into effect post-congressional review, it would require CIC to make quarterly unannounced visits to each DOC facility, including Central Cell Block; require DOC to notify CIC of any death within 24 hours; and require CIC to produce eight reports a year on conditions of confinement, implementation of CIC recommendations, food services in DOC facilities, use of force by DOC personnel, use of safe cells and segregation in DOC facilities, career readiness and educational programming in DOC facilities, and prevalence of contraband in DOC facilities and strategies for reduction. Funding two Program Specialist positions for CIC and a contract for national policy experts will help support CIC’s new requirements under this legislation and improve oversight of DOC facilities.
III. Conclusion
In its oversight and legislative role, the Council has the power to fully fund this legislation to improve oversight at both DOC and CIC. The ACLU-D.C. is ready to work with you and alongside community partners to improve oversight at these agencies and fight for the right of everyone held at the jail to be treated humanely.