Butler Family Attorneys Respond to DOJ Announcing Investigation Into Jail

Press Release

Attorneys for the family of Lason Butler, the 27-year-old Orangeburg resident who died while in custody at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center last year, released the following statement today responding to news that The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched an investigation into the inhumane conditions at Alvin S. Glenn.

Butler’s family is represented by Pete Strom, Bakari Sellers, Alexandra Benevento, Mario Pacella and Amy Willbanks of the Strom Law Firm along with Audia Jones of the Law Office of Audia Jones. In addition to Butler, whose death was ruled a homicide by Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford, Strom Law Firm is counsel for seven additional filed federal rights cases connected to the detention center and are investigating dozens more.

Allegations in those cases range from broken locks and unsanitary conditions to dorms being left without supervision, cells left unlocked and detainees being stabbed and/or beaten as well as medical treatment for those assaults being delayed. The attorneys included many of those allegations in a letter to the DOJ earlier this year requesting a full investigation.

The statement reads as follows:

For too long, the officials at Richland County have turned a blind eye to the violence and neglect infesting Alvin S Glenn. They have ignored this death trap and the cries of victims while the cost in lives and suffering continues to rise. It’s disgraceful, it’s inexcusable and it’s downright criminal.

Time and again, Richland County has refused to act. Now it’s the Department of Justice’s turn. This investigation is about more than any single incident or the four walls of Alvin S Glenn. It’s about holding the powerful accountable when they treat citizens like they’re less than human. It’s about justice.

We stand ready to help the DOJ in any way that we can and we look forward to a swift and comprehensive inquiry.

Click here for a copy of the request attorneys sent to the DOJ in February.

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