A lawsuit alleges that during the 2014 water crisis some inmates at South Central Regional Jail were so desperate for water they tried to drink from toilets.
Many more allegations about how the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority handled the water crisis are made in a lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Charleston by the West Virginia Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of inmates at South Central between Jan. 9 and 14, 2014 - a time when thousands in the area were told not to use water for anything but flushing toilets and fighting fires.
Lawrence Messina, spokesman for the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, has continuously defended allegations about how inmates were treated at South Central. Officers and other jail staff worked overtime during the water crisis, he has said. On Friday, Messina reiterated that during the water crisis the Regional Jail's central office received two complaints.
"I was in the thick of communication about the response to the state of emergency, and in my position, I would've been aware if folks were raising issues at South Central and that just wasn't the case," Messina said.
Jamie Lynn Crofts, legal director for the ACLU in Charleston, said that numerous inmates told her they were scared to file grievances with the jail.
"Most of them felt it would be futile," Crofts said. "They had been speaking to guards and other officials requesting more water and being told the entire time there was nothing they could do."
Crofts said that in addition to interviews with inmates, the ACLU reviewed hundreds of pages of documents through the Freedom of Information Act as the basis of the allegations in the complaint. In addition to the state Regional Jail Authority, the lawsuit also names as defendants, the state Division of Corrections, Craig Adkins, the former administrator of the regional jails, and David A. Farmer, executive director of the state Regional Jails.
The lawsuit cites guidelines about the adequate intake volume of water per day for adult men and women from the Institute of Medicine. Men, ages 19 and older, is 3.7 liters, or 125 ounces, and women, the guidelines state the intake volume per day is 2.7 liters or approximately 91 ounces. The guidelines state that moisture in food consumption generally accounts for about 20 percent of total water intake.
"This means that, even by the most generous estimates, male inmates were given 40 percent of their daily adequate amount of water, and female inmates were given 55 percent of their daily adequate amount of water," the lawsuit states.
Messina previously provided the Gazette-Mail with information about how water was distributed to inmates. On Jan. 9, each inmate was given 8 ounces of water after dinner and before lockdown, he said. Inmates were given 32 ounces of water Jan. 10, and 24 ounces of other beverages. Inmates with prescriptions and those with special needs were given additional water. Between Jan. 11 and 16, inmates, Messina said, were provided 48 ounces of water and 24 ounces of other beverages. Also beginning Jan. 11, inmates were provided with gallon jugs of warmed water for bathing and brushing teeth during the evening, Messina said.
According to the lawsuit, jail employees recommended providing inmates with additional water and all employees and officials knew inmates needed more water.
On Jan. 11, inmates in two different pods staged a sit-in, demanding water and showers, the complaint states. Several inmates were disciplined as a result, the lawsuit alleges.
Those who requested medical attention were also punished, Crofts said.
A sign at the jail, which Crofts said she received a copy of, read that inmates who asked for medical treatment three or four times would be placed in the medical unit.
"They were punished for asking for medical attention. Numerous inmates have explained that the conditions in the medical unit were similar to the conditions you would see when placed in punitive or administrative segregation," Crofts said Friday.
Eventually, the lawsuit states, jail employees turned off all water in some inmates' cells, leaving them unable to flush their toilets.
"This caused prisoners to sleep in 'humid filth' with a widespread presence of flies in their cells," the complaint states.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of Kelsey Legg, who was an inmate at South Central during the water crisis. The complaint asks that a judge grant the lawsuit class-action status to allow the organization to represent all inmates who were housed at the jail during the water crisis.
Legg was sentenced to six to eight years in prison for accessory after the fact to murder and for helping conceal the body of Kareem Hunter, 28, who was beaten to death in the fall of 2013 in Legg's apartment in Marmet. She is currently being held at Lakin Correctional Center.
Charleston attorney Anthony Majestro also is representing Legg with the ACLU.
Crofts said Friday that she understands the water crisis was a terrible inconvenience for everyone in the area - she was also in the area during the water ban.
"The difference is, I was able to leave my home and go and purchase water and find a place to shower and wash my clothes, where as the people who are incarcerated are completely - there's nothing they can do for themselves," Crofts said. "They can't procure water for themselves. They can't travel to a different part of the state. They are at the mercy of the system and the people in charge."
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.