Dozens detained in federal prison awaiting trial following the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol building are being subject to solitary confinement, lack of required medical care, and restricted access to defense counsel, according to two attorneys and the father of a defendant.
Of the close to 500 arrests made so far in connection with the Jan. 6 incident, lawyers John Pierce and Steven Metcalf II, who represent several of the defendants, told EpochTV’s “The Nation Speaks” that some detainees who are being held pre-trial face solitary confinement for 23 hours a day in conditions that are “unconstitutional” and violate “every single basic human right.”
Pierce explained that these individuals are being detained by federal judges under the 1984 Bail Reform Act, which, under certain circumstances, authorizes pre-trial detention if it is believed the individuals are a threat to the community or a flight risk.
“There are about 50 plus or minus that are being detained, that have been in prison for months and will likely remain in prison for many more months until their day in court,” said Pierce.
Ned Lang, the father of a defendant who he said is receiving particularly harsh treatment, said that his son Jake is currently detained in a Washington, D.C. prison in an area called “the hole.”
“He [Jake] has no access to when Steve [his attorney] goes down and talks to him … he has no access to a private interview with an attorney. It’s like you’re in a third-world country, it’s unbelievable,” said Lang. “From what he’s telling me and what I’m hearing, it’s solitary confinement 23 hours and one hour out a day, it’s horrible.”
“These are Americans, we have individual rights, we have our Bill of Rights. This is inhumane treatment.”
Expanding on Jake’s treatment in detention, Metcalf charged that he is being denied his constitutional rights by having restricted access to defense counsel.
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