By JEFF CLEMENS

Pacific County has agreed to a cash payout to settle a lawsuit that was filed by the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC) in U.S. District Court. 

The lawsuit, which was filed in the Western District of Washington on Dec. 30, 2024, alleged then-officials at Pacific County Jail were preventing informational mailings from being delivered to inmates.

The lawsuit, covered on Jan. 16 by the Observer (tinyurl.com/HRDC-files-lawsuit), stated, “Defendants’ unwritten policies, and their practices, customs, or usages unconstitutionally burden and interfere with the First Amendment rights of Plaintiff, other publishers and correspondents who sent or wish to send books, magazines, other publications, legal materials, or other mail to prisoners confined at the Pacific County Jail, and prisoners at the jail.”  

The HRDC was represented by attorneys at Macdonald Hoague and Bayless. Its lawsuit was aimed at Pacific County government as a whole. It directly named Pacific County Sheriff Daniel Garcia, and Deputy Michael Parker, who was then the acting head of the jail and later undersheriff before being demoted.  

HRDC sends out two monthly magazines along with other mailings to jails and inmates to help defendants understand their rights, including their constitutional rights. Mail sent directly to six inmates on April 10, 2024, April 12, 2024, May 14, 2024, May 15, 2024, and June 10, 2024, “went largely undelivered,” the lawsuit claimed.

According to court documents, Pacific County was represented by Law Lyman Daniel Kamerrer & Bogdanovich P.S., and Garcia and Parker were represented by Thenell Law Group.  

The parties reached a settlement for $40,001 that was filed on July 8, plus all legal fees associated with the lawsuit. The amount of fees was not specified but are likely to be substantial.  

The jail is no longer part of the sheriff’s office.