A significant lawsuit has been initiated by the ACLU and NAACP, claiming a “dangerous pattern of mistreatment” at the Harford County Detention Center. This legal action allegedly points to over 20 suicide attempts since 2019.
The lawsuit, directed against Sheriff Jeff Gahler, Warden Daniel Galbraith, Harford County, and the state, criticizes the facility for inadequate screening and treatment. It highlights an “excessive” reliance on isolation practices and inadequate monitoring of individuals identified as suicidal or in need of medical support. Furthermore, it alleges that there is punitive action taken against those in crisis.
“The fundamental constitutional duty of a jail is to ensure the safety of its inmates,” emphasized Sonia Kumar, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Maryland, in a press release on Wednesday. “The Harford County Detention Center has egregiously failed to fulfill this responsibility, prioritizing its reputation over the critical actions needed to preserve lives.”
The Harford County Sheriff’s Office has chosen not to comment on the ongoing lawsuit.
This suit was collectively filed by the ACLU, NAACP, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, Mayer Brown LLP, and Charles Morris, who survived a suicide attempt at the detention center in August 2024. The case was formally lodged in the U.S. District Court for Maryland on Tuesday.
The lawsuit contends that at-risk inmates are often placed in cells furnished with bunk beds resembling “makeshift gallows,” asserting that these individuals should be inhabited in safer environments devoid of unnecessary hazards.
Detailed in the lawsuit are 20 documented suicide attempts within the facility, each recorded using incident reports generated by the center, with claims that the actual number of attempts could be higher.
The inmates cited in the lawsuit faced charges ranging from trespassing, criminal mischief, and theft to more serious offenses like rape and assault.
Several examples included in the litigation reveal alarming signs of suicidal intent among inmates. For instance, one man was captured on video practicing his method of suicide before eventually succumbing, another drew graphic illustrations of a hanging figure, while a third explicitly expressed his intention to take his own life.
Moreover, the suit details instances where inmates on suicide watch faced threats of force, had their clothing stripped, or were unjustly placed in isolation.
In another shocking example, officials dismissed concerns regarding a man who had a string tied around his neck, claiming he was simply trying to “manipulate” the staff despite evident worries from medical personnel. Just under two weeks later, the same individual made a serious suicide attempt, as the lawsuit states.
Named as a plaintiff, Morris attempted suicide in August 2024 after, according to the suit, he expressed multiple warning signs during the intake process, indicating a crisis and a high risk of self-harm. Instead of being placed on suicide watch, he was put in a 23-hour isolation where he ultimately tried to take his own life.
Following this incident, he was discovered by a deputy and rushed to a hospital, where he spent three days in a coma. The suit alleges that Warden Galbraith instructed hospital personnel to inform Morris’s family only in the event of his brain death. Furthermore, Galbraith improperly assumed the role of decision-maker regarding medical consent, violating both Maryland and federal law, as claimed in the suit.
Morris was initially detained on charges related to assault, rape, and sexual offenses but was fully acquitted of all charges in the Harford County Circuit Court in March 2025.
The Harford County Sheriff’s Office addressed the suicide attempt in an August 2024 release, asserting that Morris “did not show any signs of self-harm.”
The official statement also included statistics regarding admissions to the facility, the number of inmates screened for suicidal behavior, as well as disparities in attempted suicides and completed suicides. The sheriff’s office claims the suicide rate within the detention center aligns with the overall suicide figures for Harford County.
“We often hear about completed suicides in jails, yet discussions on the many lives saved in our facilities tend to be overlooked,” stated Gahler in the release dated August 16, 2024. “I want to acknowledge our dedicated Correctional Deputies, who work tirelessly to ensure the safety of those entrusted to them, often without recognition.”
In December, the sheriff’s office announced the rollout of medical wristbands for inmates within the detention center. These devices are designed to address medical emergencies more rapidly and enhance safety protocols for at-risk individuals.
The ACLU has previously voiced concerns regarding the use of this technology as a replacement for human staff, but the sheriff’s office reiterated to The Baltimore Sun that these are intended as supplementary tools, not substitutes for personnel.
Gahler, Galbraith, Harford County, and the state of Maryland will have 21 days to respond once they are served with the summons.
“After enduring years of tragedy and severe injuries, the continued failure to implement basic changes has resulted in immense suffering for our members and their families, many of whom are dealing with crises,” remarked Willie A. Flowers, president of the NAACP’s Central Maryland Region, in the press release. “This situation has also placed staff at HCDC—who genuinely strive to perform their jobs— in an untenable position of trying to protect lives that never should have been at risk in the first place. We aspire for the outcome of this case to ensure the safety of everyone in the community.”
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