Lawsuit Seeks Compensation For Inmates Over Hawaii’s Response to Covid-19 …The state failed to protect inmates and thousands were infected, according to the lawsuit.
The Hawaii correctional system botched its response to the pandemic so badly that the state should pay compensation to prison and jail inmates who became infected with Covid-19 or died from the disease, according to a lawsuit filed in Circuit Court.
The lawsuit filed in Honolulu by the firm of Eric Seitz says the state Department of Public Safety “categorically failed to take reasonable measures to protect the inmate population in its care, custody, and control” from the time of the first Covid-19 outbreak inside in August 2020.
Seitz said he will ask the court to appoint an administrator to process claims by inmates who have been infected, and he believes $1,000 to $5,000 payments for prisoners who were infected and became “minimally sick” may be appropriate.
