Detainees in Washington, D.C.’s jail system have described meals filled with insects, mice in kitchen refrigerators, and complaints about contaminated food that reportedly went unresolved.
One prisoner bit into a dead mouse while eating red beans and rice. Another found a rodent under a slice of bread. A third, getting ready to break his Ramadan fast, discovered a dead rodent in his food.
These allegations, described in a federal class-action lawsuit, add to a long list of complaints about the District’s correctional facilities. On Monday, the U.S. Justice Department announced it is investigating possible violations of prisoners’ constitutional rights.
“The Constitution protects the rights of every incarcerated American, including those held in custody in our nation’s capital,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We are committed to upholding our federal civil rights laws so that no inmate is confined in unconstitutional conditions or subject to unconstitutional mistreatment at the District of Columbia Department of Corrections.”
Federal investigators will investigate claims of excessive force, poor medical care, unsafe and dirty living conditions, and not enough food. The investigation covers conditions since Jan. 1, 2021, and could lead to major changes in how the District houses and treats thousands of people in its correctional facilities, many of whom are awaiting trial and presumed innocent.
The Justice Department said it told Mayor Muriel Bowser about the investigation in a letter sent on Oct. 19. The letter mentioned many complaints and information collected by the District’s own auditor. Federal officials have not yet decided if constitutional violations happened.
For six current and former detainees who recently sued the city, the complaints are as basic as wanting meals without dead animals or insects in them.
Pernell Jackson alleges that he had already eaten several bites of salad on Aug. 31, 2024, when he discovered a dead mouse in the container. He vomited and was subsequently diagnosed with gastroenteritis, according to the complaint. A correctional officer photographed the food, and an incident report documented the discovery.
Kevin Condray alleges that he bit into a dead mouse while eating red beans and rice in September 2023. Spiro Stafilatos reported finding a dead mouse beneath a piece of bread in October 2025.
Linnell Shelton alleges that he discovered a mouse in his rice while preparing to break his Ramadan fast in March 2026. When he complained, a correctional officer allegedly accused him of putting the animal there himself and threatened to place him in disciplinary segregation.
Juwuan Tutt reported discovering a dead mouse beneath a slice of cheese in August 2026.
Mustafa Wright alleges that he bit into a cockroach mixed into his breakfast potatoes in November 2025 and encountered another insect in his Thanksgiving meal.
The six plaintiffs accuse the District of violating their Fifth Amendment rights by repeatedly exposing them to contaminated food. They seek financial damages and court-ordered changes to food preparation, storage, inspections, and pest control.
According to the lawsuit, one detainee who worked in the jail kitchen said he saw four or five mice every day, sometimes inside a walk-in refrigerator. Food was prepared near a loading dock and dumpsters, and ingredients were sometimes kept overnight before being served.
The prisoners describe being forced to choose between eating meals they feared were contaminated and purchasing food from the commissary, an expense some could not afford.
Government records have already noted complaints about food safety.
A 2025 report from the Office of the D.C. Auditor found 221 complaints about food service in the year ending June 30, 2024. Earlier inspections had found problems with sanitation, food temperatures, and pest control.
“Issues mentioned more frequently in the inspection reports were mold, rodents, insects, and feces,” the report stated. “Those who have been to the jail have said that the facility has infestations of mice and roaches. Residents have reported to ANC Commissioner Shameka Hayes that they often see bugs emerging from the drains. An attorney also reported a really bad smell in the units and “[a] lot of rodents in the units. Mostly mice.”
The Department of Corrections has maintained that its food service complies with U.S. Department of Agriculture standards and that it inspects meals during preparation, storage, and distribution. Aramark, the jail’s food service contractor, has disputed suggestions that it received official reports of the alleged contamination.
The federal inquiry also reaches into the treatment of prisoners suffering medical emergencies and mental health crises.
In another lawsuit filed in September, five current and former prisoners accused correctional officers of failing to intervene when a detainee experiencing a mental health crisis repeatedly set fires inside a housing unit in 2023.
The plaintiffs allege that officers ignored warnings for hours while smoke spread through the unit, exposing other prisoners to dangerous conditions. They further contend that officers withheld appropriate medical treatment afterward.
The Justice Department’s investigation will proceed under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, which authorizes federal intervention when state or local institutions engage in patterns of unconstitutional treatment.
Investigators said they will examine whether the complaints reflect individual failures or conditions so widespread that the District has violated its constitutional obligations to people in custody.
The investigation also places renewed scrutiny on Bowser’s administration and Department of Corrections Director Thomas Faust, whose agency oversees the facilities. Dhillon copied Faust, Warden Joe Page III, and D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb in the letter. Bowser’s office had not issued a public response to the investigation when it was announced Monday.
The District is legally responsible for providing constitutionally adequate care, whether a person is awaiting trial or serving a sentence, and federal investigators are requesting information from people with knowledge of conditions inside the facilities.
“If we determine that there are systemic violations, we will inform you of our findings and attempt to work with the DOC to remedy those violations,” Dhillon wrote to Bowser.
