The U.S. government on Wednesday said a New Jersey county has agreed to provide jailed inmates with improved mental health care and treatment for opiate withdrawal to resolve claims its prior failures violated the U.S. Constitution.
A consent decree with Cumberland County, New Jersey and its corrections department, which operates the Cumberland County Jail, is being filed with the federal court in Camden, New Jersey.
The U.S. Department of Justice faulted the county for not identifying when inmates might harm themselves or be suicide risks because of unmedicated opiate withdrawal, and not treating inmates needing care for serious mental health conditions.
According to court papers, the failures violated the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, and the 14th Amendment.
The Justice Department began investigating the jail in June 2018 after six inmates who had been denied treatment committed suicide. By January 2021 the department found reasonable cause to believe the county’s treatment of inmates was unconstitutional.
County officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Jails and prisons must provide adequate medical care to incarcerated individuals,” Attorney General Merrick Garland, who signed the complaint, said in a statement.
He called the consent decree a “significant step” toward helping inmates with serious mental health disorders and protecting their civil rights.