The Justice Department is launching an investigation into the D.C. Department of Corrections over allegations that it violates prisoners’ constitutional rights, the agency announced Monday.
The Justice Department said it has received allegations of inadequate medical care, use of excessive force, and unsafe and unsanitary conditions at corrections department facilities.
The agency will determine if D.C. “engages in a pattern or practice of violating the constitutional rights” of people held at Department of Corrections facilities, according to a notice of investigation sent to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. The investigation will look at conditions for all inmates since January 2021, the notice said.
The investigation comes just days after six people filed a lawsuit claiming they were repeatedly served food with dead mice and bugs while being held at the D.C. jail. The District government has discussed the need for a new jail facility since 2010 but has yet to finalize plans to build one.
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The D.C. attorney general’s office declined to comment on the investigation. The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to questions from The Washington Sun.
“The Constitution protects the rights of every incarcerated American, including those held in custody in our nation’s capital,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a press release. “We are committed to upholding our federal civil rights laws so that no inmate is confined in unconstitutional conditions or subject to unconstitutional mistreatment at the District of Columbia Department of Corrections.”
The District government has been aware of potentially poor conditions at the jail for a while. A report from the D.C. auditor’s office released in May 2025 chronicled a deteriorating building that needed to be replaced “as soon as possible to protect the jail’s residents and staff.” The report also found that “inadequate staff training,” among other issues, affected the well-being and safety of inmates in D.C. correctional facilities.
“We have been saying for quite some time that the conditions at the DC jail are unacceptable and the critical need is for a new jail. The crumbling facility contributes to every issue reported,” D.C. Auditor Kathleen Patterson told The Sun. “The most constructive thing the federal government can do is to partner with the District in securing a new facility that meets the District’s criminal justice goals and the Constitution’s requirements.”
Multiple ongoing lawsuits against the Department of Corrections extensively document allegations of substandard conditions at the facility.
A complaint filed in 2023 alleges jail staff does not provide adequate medical care to detainees and is “deliberately indifferent” to its obligation to care for inmates. That case is ongoing.
Another complaint filed earlier this year alleges the D.C. jail mishandled threats from an inmate, who started an electrical fire in his cell that caused people in nearby cells to inhale excessive smoke and endure psychological distress. That case is also ongoing.
Misty Thomas Zaleski, executive director of the Council for Court Excellence, a justice advocacy organization in D.C., said it’s past time for local leaders to make changes at the D.C. jail facility.
“The problems with D.C.’s jail are well documented, and the new DOJ investigation does not change the fundamental responsibility of D.C. leaders to ensure safe and humane conditions for the people who live and work there,” she said in a statement Monday.
This story was updated to include a statement from Misty Thomas Zaleski.
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