Judge dismisses lawsuit against Moose Lake prison

A lawsuit accusing the Minnesota Department of Corrections of not fulfilling its obligations to protect prisoners in Moose Lake from the Covid-19 pandemic was dismissed Monday.

Sixth District judge Leslie Beiers dismissed the case, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota against the Department of Corrections on April 15.

Initially filed on behalf of three inmates - later only two - the petition asked for the release of the three prisoners and others in a similar situation to a safe location during the Covid-19 pandemic because the state had failed to take reasonable measures to protect them. The Moose Lake prison was the first Minnesota DOC facility to have any confirmed cases of the disease, and the virus spread fairly quickly there initially.

Beiers' 33-page opinion lists the many and changing actions taken by the DOC and Moose Lake prison officials to try to limit the spread of the infectious disease.

In her memorandum and order denying the lawsuit, Beiers stated that the complainants failed to establish that the correctional facility was "deliberately indifferent" to a substantial risk of serious harm to their health or safety. The judge went on to explain that there is no violation of the Eighth Amendment "when prison officials know of a substantial risk and respond reasonably, even if the response does not ultimately avert the harm" or when "the risk of serious harm is substantial, but prison officials have undertaken significant steps to try to reduce the harm and protect inmates."

In her opinion, the judge also noted that neither of the remaining petitioners contracted the disease. Beiers also cited a recent legal case, Swain v. Junior, that was decided in the 11th Circuit Court in June, in which that Court wrote: "We simply cannot conclude that, when faced with a perfect storm of a contagious virus and the space constraints inherent in a correctional facility, the defendants here acted unreasonably by "doing their best." Beiers noted that the two complaints were comparable.

Her order also denied an evidentiary hearing that was scheduled for August.

Dan Shulman, the ACLU attorney who represented the inmates in the lawsuit, said they intend to appeal the judge's decision, and said they thought the Court ignored their evidence that the DOC was not doing what it claimed to be doing in Moose Lake.

"We also think the Judge used the wrong standard in requiring us to prove "deliberate indifference" by the DOC in order to get relief for Moose Lake prisoners," Shulman said.

Regarding testimony by two medical doctors on behalf of the prisoners, Beiers said their criticisms of the DOC response to the pandemic were based on conditions when the lawsuit was filed on April 15.

"This Court must base its determination on the current situation and Respondents have taken significant steps that have developed along with the science and recommendations of the (Centers for Disease Control) and (the Minnesota Department of Health)," Beiers wrote.

A lot changed at the prison between the time the lawsuit was filed on April 15 and the date of the dismissal two months later. In addition to increased hand washing and sanitizing and eventually requiring masks be worn by all prisoners and staff, the DOC implemented an early work release program related to Covid-19 as well as a medical release program.

The DOC also increased testing at its facilities. Mass testing of DOC facilities began May 22, but at the Stillwater prison. Moose Lake didn't see that kind of mass testing until almost a month later.

Shulman argued in a hearing June 23 that the DOC waited to test Moose Lake until the disease had run through the prison population.

Still, many of the DOC actions since April were things the lawsuit asked for, which gives the disappointed Shulman some comfort.

"We believe that even though we lost, just bringing the case had the beneficial effect of forcing the DOC to focus its attention on Moose Lake, which at the time was the epicenter of Covid-19 in Minnesota prisons," Shulman told the Pine Knot News on Wednesday.

Minnesota DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell stated that the DOC has taken a "serious, adaptive, and coordinated approach" to combating Covid-19 in the prison system.

"We welcome the court's recognition of the reasonableness of our actions to date, but we do not minimize the serious risk that Covid-19 represents for those incarcerated and our staff," Schnell said. "We will continue to coordinate with health experts on a multifaceted approach that minimizes the risk of mass infection through effective prevention and spread management strategies."

On Wednesday, July 15, the DOC website showed a total of 77 confirmed positive cases at Moose Lake since the pandemic began, with 74 of those patients fully recovered and out of isolation.

Two prisoners who were positive for Covid-19 at the state's Faribault facility died in June.