Class Action Takes Issue with Allegheny County Policy for Detainees to Disclose Medical Info in Groups

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A proposed civil rights class action has been filed against the County of Allegheny in Pennsylvania by an individual who claims the privacy rights of detainees at the Allegheny County Jail are effectively ignored during the facility’s booking procedures. The plaintiff alleges that although there’s no issue with the county requesting from detainees information on their mental and physical health conditions, what’s unacceptable is for Allegheny County to require detainees to provide such information in groups. From the complaint: 

“At the Allegheny County Jail, detainees sit in a room with several other detainees, and are questioned about their private health information. Detainees with HIV, Hepatitis, mental illness, venereal disease and any number of medical conditions are required to detail their health history sitting within earshot of several other detainees. Obviously, no one wants their private health information available to other detainees, who will undoubtedly share that information when being placed into a housing unit. There is no justification, much less a legitimate penological justification, for this pattern and practice.”

The complaint notes the plaintiff, upon being processed into the Allegheny County Jail in December 2016 for a parole violation, was asked questions about his medical history in front of four others. The plaintiff refused to answer the defendant’s officer’s questions until he was given a direct order to do so by a Corrections Sergeant, the suit says.