State Supreme Court rules against inmates who wanted early release for COVID-19 threat

The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday narrowly rejected a lawsuit that would have forced the state Department of Corrections to release inmates in order to keep them safe from the coronavirus.

In a lawsuit that named Gov. Jay Inslee and Department of Corrections Secretary Steven Sinclair and filed by five current inmates, the high court, meeting remotely, said the plaintiffs had not shown to the court that the state was "failing to perform a mandatory, nondiscretionary duty in addressing the COVID-19 risk at the Department of Corrections facilities."