Justice Dept. investigates poor conditions, vermin in food at D.C. Jail
by Matt Delaney · The Washington TimesThe Justice Department opened an investigation Monday into whether the D.C. Department of Corrections has been violating inmates’ constitutional rights by forcing them to endure substandard safety and living conditions.
The federal agency said it sent a notice to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser about the beginning of their probe, which will look into allegations that the DOC has failed to protect prisoners from excessive force, provided an unsanitary environment inside the prison and has not provided adequate nutrition or medical care to the inmates.
“The Constitution protects the rights of every incarcerated American, including those held in custody in our nation’s capital,” said Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon. “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.”
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The DOJ investigation comes after six male inmates at the D.C. Jail filed a lawsuit last week that accused the DOC of feeding them meals with mice and insects in their food.
The lawsuit alleges to have photos of inmates’ food that showed a dead rodent underneath a piece of bread, rodent droppings in a piece of cake and an insect found in a serving of green beans. DOC employees provided photos of the allegedly vermin-infested food for the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says the issues were raised with jail staff, but the concerns were downplayed or ignored altogether.
All the unsanitary food was discovered between 2023 and 2026 when the men were held in pretrial detention at the D.C. Jail.
Last year, the D.C. Auditor said the city had an “urgent need” for a new jail, and that the current facility witnessed in-custody deaths at more than three times the national average. The report also found that living conditions at the jail had worsened since 2019 — when the auditor released a report calling on city officials to address the jail’s ongoing issues.
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The D.C. Jail also witnessed a pair deadly stabbings in recent years.
Inmate Marquise Jones was charged with second degree murder in the May 2025 fatal stabbing of Carlos Shelley. And in August 2023, inmate Mussay Rezene was accused of stabbing fellow inmate Darrow Johnson to death.
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Matt Delaney
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