A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday takes aim at Allegheny County Jail officials, the county’s probation office and three Common Pleas judges, alleging the practice of holding individuals on probation detainers when they would otherwise qualify for release violates the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
Probation detainers are used when individuals violate the terms of their parole or probation and are held in jail until a new hearing on the matter can be had.
One set of circumstances that can lead to such a detainer includes the filing of new charges against an individual. When that happens, a judge can order that person to be held in jail even if they would otherwise be eligible for release via bail.
“Local officials’ detainer practices are particularly jarring in light of the ongoing crisis at the Allegheny County Jail,” said Sumayya Saleh, an attorney with Civil Rights Corps, who is representing six people incarcerated at the jail in the lawsuit.
She pointed to deaths of several incarcerated individuals at the jail, alleging that “the jail continues to be senselessly overpopulated because of the rampant and illegal use of probation detainers.”
The lawsuit alleges that Common Pleas Judges Anthony Mariani and Kelly Bigley have a blanket “no-lift” policy, which the lawsuit claims requires anyone under their supervision who is arrested for a probation violation remain in jail regardless of circumstances. The lawsuit also names Warden Orlando Harper, Common Pleas Administrative Judge Jill Rangos and Director of Probation Frank Scherer.
Judges Rangos and Mariani and a spokesman for the Allegheny County Jail declined to comment on the pending litigation, and Judge Bigley said she had not been served with the lawsuit as of late Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Scherer could not immediately be reached.
The lawsuit hinges on the experiences of six men being held in the Allegheny County Jail, three of whom were sent to the jail on probation detainers in September. Two of the men have been jailed on detainers since February.
Dion Horton, 22, was jailed in February when he was arrested on two new cases — including charges of aggravated assault and a firearms violation — while he was already on probation, according to the lawsuit. The filing contends that even though a district judge ordered that he be released on $5,000 unsecured bond in each case, he has remained in jail on a probation detainer.
“I thought that we were supposed to be innocent until proven guilty,” Mr. Horton said in a press release.
Attorneys are seeking to have the lawsuit certified as a class-action.
The lawsuit claims that out of 1,252 detainer hearings observed by volunteer court watchers from January 2021 through mid-September 2022, release was recommended in just over 20% of cases.
The court watchers reported that some hearing officers made comments to defendants alluding to particular judges’ preferences when it comes to probation detainers. The lawsuit alleges that comments were in the vein of, “It’s Judge Mariani, I have no discretion in this case,” and “This is Judge Bigley, I’m not allowed to lift the detainer.”
Allegheny County Councilwoman At-Large Bethany Hallam recounted her time in the Allegheny County Jail on a probation detainer.
“I happened to be on probation when I tested positive on a drug screen and was arrested,” she said. “And even though I was neither a flight risk nor a danger to my community, I was detained. No amount of money in the world could have gotten me out of jail. I was at the mercy of my judge and my probation officer.”
Megan Guza: mguza@post-gazette.com
First Published: October 4, 2022, 5:12 p.m.
Updated: October 4, 2022, 8:13 p.m.
