You must have a first and last name to search. It was among a handful of such deaths at the jail since 2014.If you are looking for an inmate in the Alameda County Jail, click to the Inmate Locator page. The jail recorded one fatal fentanyl overdose in the three years prior to 2021, Kelly said. A program to train deputies on how to use Narcan - which can quickly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, such as one caused by fentanyl - has saved more than a dozen lives, Kelly said. Kelly said attempts to smuggle drugs into the jail are a “major problem” that is affecting jails across California. The suit took aim at “a policy, custom and practice of discriminating against African-American women,” one that especially affected “those who publicly air grievances regarding jail conditions.” It also claims that Anderson, who was Black, was among many minorities to die at the jail. “These policies are carried out with deliberate indifference to the constitutional rights of inmates and their families,” and the sheriff’s staff members “were not adequately trained on the proper procedure for screening inmates, staff, and other visitors for drugs and other contraband,” the lawsuit alleges. The suit did not provide details about those other deaths. The lawsuit alleges that the sheriff’s search policies contributed to 10 drug-related deaths at the jail, including Anderson’s death. ![]() Anderson’s family claimed that a fellow inmate, who was arrested during a traffic stop for an outstanding warrant, smuggled fentanyl into the jail a month before Anderson was found unresponsive in her cell. The lawsuit alleges systemic failures on the part of jail deputies to properly screen new inmates for drugs. Last month, a federal judge approved a sweeping settlement to improve mental health care at the jail and address complaints of “excessive use of isolation, providing an insufficient amount of out-of-cell time and programming, inadequate classification systems, and a lack of due process protections,” among other concerns.Īt issue in Anderson’s case are allegations of rampant drug smuggling. It did not provide further details about her incarceration. She had been serving time for a “minor offense,” and she was set to be released in April 2022, the lawsuit said. ![]() He also pointed to a criminal probe underway regarding the woman suspected of smuggling in the fentanyl.Īn independent autopsy found Anderson died of “cardiopulmonary arrest complicated by underlying heart disease and fentanyl use,” the lawsuit said. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, declined to comment directly on the lawsuit and Anderson’s case, citing the fact that it’s ongoing litigation. ![]() The suit, filed by Anderson’s family, lambasted the sheriff’s office for “inadequate mental health care, inhumane living conditions, and an inadequate drug search policy all resulting from a deliberate indifference to the inmates’ safety.” She later died despite efforts by the jail’s staff to revive her.īefore her death, Anderson, 41, also penned two letters complaining of animal and insect feces in her food, dangerous living conditions, a lack of COVID-19 protocols and poorly trained jail staff members, the lawsuit said. She was found unresponsive inside her cell on May 16. ![]() The lawsuit, which was filed this week against Alameda County, Sheriff Gregory Ahern and dozens of his staff members, blames longstanding negligence and a lack of contraband training for the deaths not only of of Lee Esther Anderson last year but other inmates in previous years. A federal lawsuit claims a woman overdosed on fentanyl last year at the Santa Rita jail - a stark example, it alleges, of inept and poorly trained guards failing to catch people smuggling drugs into the facility.
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