JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FINDS UNCONSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS AT TWO MARYLAND JUVENILE JUSTICE FACILITIES

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice today announced the results of its investigation into the conditions of confinement at two juvenile justice facilities in Maryland: the Cheltenham Youth Facility in Cheltenham, Maryland and the Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School in Baltimore, Maryland. The Department found substantial civil rights violations at both facilities.

The Justice Department opened its investigation in August of 2002 and discovered credible evidence of significant physical abuse of youth residents at the hands of both staff and other youth at the facilities. The Department also found that basic services, such as medical care, mental health care, and suicide prevention measures, do not satisfy even minimal constitutional standards.

“The conditions in these facilities have subjected youths to serious harm in the past. No juvenile should be exposed to such conditions,” said R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “However, the state of Maryland has been cooperating with our investigation, and we are confident that we will be able to work together to remedy these deficiencies.”

Of particular concern, was the pervasive level of violence and staff assaults at both facilities. The investigation revealed that staff beat and punched juveniles housed in the facilities. Numerous staff members have been charged with criminal assault by local officials. The Department’s investigation also yielded evidence of multiple incidents of youths attacking and beating other youths without staff intervention, resulting in serious physical harm such as eye injuries, a broken jaw, and significant head wounds. At one point, local law enforcement had to respond in order to regain control of Cheltenham during a riot.

Cheltenham and Hickey house over 300 boys ranging in age from 12 to 20. Most youths are detained at Cheltenham prior to adjudication; some are there for lengthy periods following adjudication while they await placement in a treatment program.

The Department’s findings and recommendations are documented in a letter from Assistant Attorney General R. Alexander Acosta to Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. The text of the letter is available on the Justice Department’s website at www.usdoj.gov/crt/split/findsettle.htm <http://www.usdoj.gov>.

The Civil Rights Division conducted its investigation pursuant to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, and the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act of 1980 (CRIPA). These statutes allow the federal government to identify and root out systemic abuses such as those identified in this case, rather than focus on individual civil rights violations.

The Civil Rights Division has successfully resolved similar investigations of other juvenile justice facilities in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and Saipan, and recently filed suit over similar charges against the state of Mississippi. Investigations concerning juvenile justice facilities are pending in California, Michigan and Indiana.

The Department of Justice’s enforcement effort reaches beyond juvenile facilities. Since 2001, the Department of Justice has opened 42 similar investigations into the terms and conditions of confinement at nursing homes, mental health facilities and residences for persons with developmental disabilities. These figures represent more than a one hundred percent increase over the 20 such investigations initiated in the 1998-2000 time period. Most recently, the Civil Rights Division sued the state of Mississippi over conditions at two juvenile facilities in the state and also entered into a settlement with the state of Louisiana arising out of conditions at the state’s facilities for persons with developmental disabilities (<http://www.usdoj.gov/archive/opa/pr/2004/January/04_crt_011.htm>).

More information about the Special Litigation Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division can be found at www.usdoj.gov/crt/split/index.html <http://www.usdoj.gov>.

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