By Radha Patel
As climate change threatens coastal communities, natural disasters are growing more severe and are devastating at-risk populations. Floridian cities have particularly been impacted by a major rise in intensified hurricanes.[i] Following Hurricane Helene and Milton, several cities in Central Florida were left with significant damage to their streets and homes.[ii] Fortunately, several counties mandatorily evacuated highly impacted zones in preparation for Hurricane Milton.[iii] While many residents were given the opportunity to flee to safety, many counties refused to evacuate their local jails.[iv] For instance, Manatee County Jail, housing more than 1,000 inmates, was not evacuated during Milton, despite being in a mandatory evacuation zone.[v] Florida’s failure to evacuate inmates highlights inadequate evacuation planning and infringes on several constitutionally protected rights.
Florida’s Evacuation Policies
The federal government has outlined that, within a state, every county is responsible for creating comprehensive emergency plans for their communities.[vi] In order to integrate this responsibility locally, Florida developed several statutes for “Emergency Management” and designated that counties must adequately prepare for and respond to natural disasters.[vii] Moreover, during natural disasters, Floridian counties have an obligation to reduce the vulnerability of their communities from “damage, injury, and loss of lives” while protecting the health and safety of its population.[viii] In these efforts, counties must create an evacuation plan identifying and containing a detailed description of evacuation procedures. [ix] These laws empower counties with the right to enact mandatory evacuations and impose penalties on any resident that does not comply.[x] In several of these counties, the penalty for noncompliance results in a second-degree misdemeanor charge.[xi]
Manatee County, among other Floridian counties, implemented mandatory evacuations for anyone within a direct zone of danger.[xii] Their local jail was situated in a red mandatory evacuation zone where failure to evacuate would result in criminal penalties.[xiii] Such penalties were necessary to communicate that fatal consequences were expected from Hurricane Milton.[xiv] While the rest of the county were guided out of danger zones, the confined jail population was abandoned to fare the treacherous hurricane.[xv] Manatee County asserts that it has discretion in deciding whether to evacuate its jail facilities, however, the U.S. Constitution and basic human rights guidelines provide several reasons why the county should have implemented an evacuation plan for its inmates.[xvi]
Constitutional Protections and Human Rights
The failure to create an adequate prison evacuation plan implicates an inmate’s Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment, Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial, and violates basic human rights.
While in custody, inmates retain a right against cruel and unusual punishment.[xvii] This right does not only work to prevent any “unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain” on incarcerated populations, but also to prevent the deprivation of a life’s necessities, no matter how minimal.[xviii] Further, empowered by their public health responsibilities, a state has a duty to provide and care for its incarcerated populations where their deprivation of liberty has restricted them from doing so themselves.[xix] The inmates in Manatee County Jail and similarly situated Florida county jails were deprived of the adequate and proper protection against Hurricane Milton given the magnitude of potential harm.
Additionally, inmates awaiting trial have a right to a fair and speedy trial.[xx] While inmates are already incarcerated, pretrial detainees are in custody and not actively serving a sentence.[xxi] Even though they are not facing similar penalties as incarcerated inmates, pretrial detainees face the same physical and environmental threats. [xxii] Where counties have insufficient plans for natural disasters, the jails may experience the loss of detainees.[xxiii] Where an inmate’s safety is not provided for through a suitable evacuation plan, these obstacles prevent pretrial detainees from obtaining their right to a speedy trial.
Lastly, inmates and pretrial detainees alike retain basic human rights, even while in custody. While inmates do face a deprivation of some rights that are inherent with incarceration, they do not outright lose all human rights protections.[xxiv] In the United States, it is recommended that inmates have a basic right to safety.[xxv] Internationally, basic human rights for inmates are defined and protected much further. International human rights law holds a similar foundation as the U.S. Constitution in that they uphold individual rights to justice and dignity.[xxvi] However, international human rights law has outlined that inmates specifically retain fundamental freedoms that allude to the right to safety from natural disasters.[xxvii]In this instance, Manatee County not only refused to evacuate inmates, but also the staff and security within the jails.[xxviii] Therefore, by failing to implement an evacuation plan for the jail, the county was compromising the rights of free citizens and subjecting them to a highly distressing situation while also depriving inmates of their basic human rights.
Recommendations
While counties like Manatee County do have internal provisions for natural disasters, their evacuation plans must adjust to prioritize public safety and inmate rights. Florida would benefit from reviewing plans developed in other states following devastating natural disasters. For example, when jails were not evacuated in Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina, inmates endured severe flooding.[xxix] Consequently, they were forced to stand in waist-high water for days with some having fatal reactions to the conditions despite the jail being stocked with emergency provisions.[xxx] As a result, the jail implemented comprehensive evacuation plans including potential evacuation routes and provisions, as well as identifying neighboring prisons with empty beds for their inmates.[xxxi] Another illustrative case study presents itself in California in 2023, where an “atmospheric river storm” brought devastating floods to the Sacramento city jail.[xxxii] In immediate response to the flooding, the prison began evacuating their inmates using designated routes and transporting them to accommodating correctional facilities.[xxxiii] While they evacuated inmates properly, it was noted that the jail’s efforts could have been more successful if a clear plan was made for the jail.[xxxiv]
Conclusion
By overlooking their inmates during severe natural disasters, Manatee County did not abide by their legal duties and responsibilities. Fortunately, their inmates did not suffer serious harm and the jail was spared the impact seen in Louisiana and California. However, Floridian counties should not have to experience similar tragedies to recognize the necessity of an adequate evacuation plan. Counties should take proactive measures in response to the rising frequency of hurricanes. Looking forward, it is imperative that counties adopt robust and comprehensive evacuation plans, ensuring the safety and safeguarding the rights of all individuals, particularly in the face of natural disasters.
[i] Hurricanes, Florida Climate Center, https://climatecenter.fsu.edu/topics/hurricanes#:~:text=While%20the%20mean%20intensity%20of,increase%20in%20rapid%20intensification%20events.
[ii] Julio Cortez, Kate Payne, & Haven Daley, Although Milton has moved on, at least 8 are dead and millions remain in the dark, The Associated Press News (Oct. 11, 2024, 7:12 AM), https://apnews.com/article/hurricane-milton-tampa-florida-5f6a112986eb6e21720f0f17c504afe8.
[iii] Evacuation Orders, Florida Division of Emergency Management, https://www.floridadisaster.org/evacuation-orders/.
[iv] Gloria Oladipo, Several Florida jails and prisons refuse to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton, The Guardian (Oct. 9, 2024, 2:03 PM), https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/09/inmate-evacuation-hurricane-milton-jail-prison-florida.
[v] Victoria Villanueva-Marquez, More than 1,000 inmates rode out Hurricane Milton at Manatee jail. Here’s what happened, Bradenton Herald (Oct. 11, 2024, 9:29 AM), https://www.bradenton.com/news/local/article293766154.html.
[vi] 12A Am. Jur. Legal Forms 2d § 174:23.
[vii] 21 Fla. Jur 2d Emergency § 1.
[viii] Id; see 21 Fla. Jur 2d Emergency § 26; see also 21 Fla. Jur 2d Emergency § 6.
[ix] 21 Fla. Jur 2d Emergency § 27; see Fla. Stat. Ann. § 252.38.
[x] Id.
[xi] Fla. Stat. Ann. § 252.50
[xii] Level A and B Evacuation Order for Milton, Manatee County (Oct. 6, 2024), https://www.mymanatee.org/news___events/what_s_new/level_a_and_b_evacuation_orders_for_milton.
[xiii] Id.
[xiv] Id.
[xv] Villanueva-Marquez, supra note v.
[xvi] Id.
[xvii] U.S. Const. art. 8.
[xviii] Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 171 (1976); see Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 347 (1981).
[xix] See Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104 (1976).
[xx] U.S. Const. art. 6.
[xxi] V L Broderick, Pretrial Detention in The Criminal Justice Process, 57 Fed. Probation 1 (March 1993).
[xxii] Ira P. Robbins, Lessons from Hurricane Katrina: Prison Emergency Preparedness As A Constitutional Imperative, 42 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 1, 40 (2008).
[xxiii] Id.
[xxiv] D Rudovsky, A J Bronstein, & E I Koren, Rights of Prisoners: The Basic ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) Guide to a Prisoner’s Rights, American Civil Liberties Union Handbook (1983), https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/rights-prisoners-basic-aclu-american-civil-liberties-union-guide-0#:~:text=A%20review%20of%20prisoners%27%20political,pretrial%20jail%20conditions%3B%20and%20parole
[xxv] Id.
[xxvi] Universal Declaration of Human Rights art 5, 10, United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (Dec. 10, 1948).
[xxvii] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (Dec. 16, 1966); see Alvin J. Bronstein & Jenni Gainsborough, Using International Human Rights Laws and Standards for U.S. Prison Reform, 24 Pace L. Rev. 811, 814 (2004).
[xxviii] Villanueva-Marquez, supra note v.
[xxix] Matt Clarke, In the Eye of the Storm: When Hurricanes Impact Prisons and Jails, Prison Legal News (May 17, 2018), https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2018/may/17/eye-storm-when-hurricanes-impact-prisons-and-jails/; Robbins, supra note xxii.
[xxx] Id.
[xxxi] Id.
[xxxii] Rosalio Ahumada, How a Calif. Sheriff’s office evacuated inmates ‘on-the-fly’ from jail during 2023 flooding, Corrections1 (Oct. 22, 2024, 4:04 PM), https://www.corrections1.com/prisoner-transport/how-a-calif-sheriffs-office-evacuated-inmates-on-the-fly-from-jail-during-2023-flooding.
[xxxiii] Id.
[xxxiv] Id.
