DURHAM, NC — A nonprofit is suing the Durham County Sheriff’s Office over public records.
Emancipate NC said they asked for Durham County Jail policies, and received documents they said were too heavily redacted.
On Monday in court, a judge denied Emancipate NC’s motion for injunctive relief, which means the county is not forced to disclose its jail policies.
However, the judge also denied the sheriff’s office’s motion to dismiss the case, which means it will continue forward.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill law students Nikolai Wise and John Schengber argued before the judge on behalf of Emancipate NC.
“The case doesn’t stop,” Wise said. “It’s just continued.”
Emancipate NC said it has heard about issues for 18 months at the Durham County Jail. The nonprofit said it interviewed people who said they had been spending 21 hours a day in their cells and saw a “restraint chair” used.
Wise said the group wants to better understand the policies to determine what conditions are supposed to be and what they are actually like inside the jail.
Durham County is arguing that disclosing more information is a possible security risk. Interim Durham County attorney Curtis Massey explained why.
“If they have to disclose their policies and say, ‘here’s how we look for contraband, here’s how we manage movements, here’s how we do threat assessments, here’s how we move people around, here’s where we house people, here’s how we transport, here’s how we secure people during transport,’ you make those public … and of course that’s what NC Emancipate says is [its] goal,” Massey said. “You put it out there, and it lets people examine those policies and look for flaws, look for loopholes, how could they exploit it, whether for escapes, contraband or attacks even within the facility.”
Schengber argued against the county’s explanation.
“The jail is a public institution, taxpayer funded,” Schengber said. “So, the jail should be regulated in a way that the public is aware of.”
Emancipate NC Strategic Director Elizabeth Simpson also joined Wise and Schengber on Monday in court. Simpson is also interim director of the UNC Law School’s civil legal assistance clinic.
“It’s already been 13 months, and that has harmed Emancipate NC’s ability to evaluate conditions in the jail, advise people living there and sort of figure out what next steps are in advocacy,” Simpson said.
A spokesperson for the Durham County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement only six of 61 policies were substantially redacted.
“The sheriff’s office is committed to transparency while maintaining the safety and security of the detention facility,” the spokesperson wrote. “North Carolina law exempts from disclosure ‘specific security information or detailed plans, patterns or practices associated with prison (or local confinement facility ) operations.’
“As counsel for Emancipate NC stated [Monday] in court, exempt information includes policies related to detainee or inmate movement, transports, keys, locks and other similar information. We agree. The redactions in this case relate to these practices and procedures.
“Only six of 61 policies were substantially redacted. As counsel for Sheriff Birkhead stated, this type of information should not be publicly available for detainees, inmates or their accomplices to strategize to smuggle contraband into the facility. These are legitimate safety and security concerns.
As reported by WRAL [News] in recent years, detainees and inmates regularly attempt to smuggle drugs, weapons and other contraband into prisons and local confinement facilities. Ultimately, a Judge will review the redacted policies and procedures to determine what, if any, additional information will be released as is appropriate.”
Tags: Emancipate sues information Durham County Jail policies
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