The New Mexico Prison & Jail Project (NMPJP) today filed a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of two women incarcerated in what is described as a rodent infested prison in Grants. Courtesy photo

NMPJP News:

“Disgusting.”

“Dehumanizing.”

“Degrading.”

These are just a few of the words used by Susie Zapata and Monica Garcia to describe the months and years they spent incarcerated at the rodent-infested women’s prison in Grants, about 78 miles west of Albuquerque.

Both women worked in the kitchen during much of their time at the prison. Forced to work at the epicenter of the infestation, they were exposed every day to threats to their physical safety.

The abysmal, unsanitary and dangerous conditions created by the rodent infestation were in clear violation of their constitutional rights. For that reason, the New Mexico Prison & Jail Project (NMPJP) announces today that it has filed a civil rights lawsuit on their behalf.  

“We intend to force the state to finally pay attention to this basic sanitation failure in the women’s prison,” said Matthew Coyte, a civil rights attorney who also serves on the NMPJP steering committee. “It is unhealthy for both prisoners and staff and has been allowed to continue for too long. It is a sad reality that nothing changes in our prison system unless someone is willing to step forward and file suit.”  

In addition to suing New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD) staff, the lawsuit also targets Summit Food Service, LLC, a private contractor that runs the kitchen at the prison.

“Susie, Monica and other inmates at the women’s prison constantly saw evidence of rodents, including rodent feces, in and near the food being served to the women,” said NMPJP steering committee member Cathy Ansheles, the former Executive Director of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and an NMPJP steering committee member. “If this were a restaurant serving the general public it would have been shut down years ago. It’s shocking that these women were forced to live, work, eat and sleep in these conditions.”  

Since at least 2017, NMCD and Summit staff have both been fully aware of the rodent infestation at the women’s prison. Despite efforts by NMCD and Summit to conceal the magnitude of the infestation, the New Mexico Environment Department, which is responsible for inspecting food service establishments in New Mexico, has cited the prison numerous times over the years for violations related to the presence of rodents.  

“It’s unconscionable that the New Mexico Corrections Department would let a rodent infestation spin out of control like this,” said Barron Jones, Senior Policy Strategist at ACLU of New Mexico who also serves on NMPJP’s steering committee, “and this has been going on for years. This wasn’t a matter of a few rats here and there. There are rodents living in the walls and vents in and near the kitchen and cafeteria that are breeding and multiplying in enormous numbers. It is just not OK to put people in conditions like this.”  

“New Mexico has the highest number of cases of hantavirus of any state in the country,” NMPJP Director Steven Robert Allen said. “The prison is located in Cibola County, which has the fourth highest number of hantavirus cases of New Mexico’s 33 counties. As we all know, rodents can transmit hantavirus and numerous other dangerous diseases and illnesses. It’s completely irresponsible for New Mexico Corrections Department staff to expose these women to that kind of mortal danger.”  

“Susie and Monica lived in a daily nightmare that posed an ongoing and potentially deadly threat to their physical health,” Allen said. “The infestation was also deeply traumatizing for them, as it would be for anyone who had to survive in such grotesque conditions. They both demand justice. They both deserve justice.”