B4 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26 , 2021
BY RACHEL WEINERHealth care inside the Arling-
ton County jail will no longer be
provided by a controversial for-
profit company.
The county said in a statement
that it will end its contract next
month with Corizon Health,
which has operated in Arlington
since 2006.
A new provider was not named
but is expected to take over on
Nov. 15.
Officials did not elaborate on
the reason for the change, but
Sheriff Beth Arthur said in a state-
ment that h er of fice is “commit-
ted to providing the highest level
of medical services to those in our
custody” and that she takes each
individual’s care “very seriously.”
She added, “We are committed
to having a vendor that provides
the level of medical service that
reflects the high expectations of
not only myself, but the Arlington
community.”
A spokesperson for Corizon did
not immediately return a request
for comment.
Arlington renewed its contract
with Corizon last year, an agree-
ment that could have extendedthrough 2025. That was before
the death in custody of Darryl
Becton, a 46-year-old D.C. resi-
dent. L ate last month, a man
named Antoine Smith — who
according to his LinkedIn profile
worked for Corizon as a nurse —
was criminally charged with falsi-
fying a patient order in connec-
tion with Becton’s death.
Officials have declined to
elaborate on the charge, citing an
ongoing investigation.
According to the state medical
examiner, Becton died of hyper-
tensive cardiovascular disease
complicated by opiate withdraw-al. An attorney for Smith did not
immediately return a request for
comment.
Just after Smith was charged, a
58-year-old man with a history of
heart problems lost conscious-
ness in the jail’s medical unit and
died soon after.
Corizon has faced more than
1,000 lawsuits across the country
alleging substandard care in jails
and prisons. The company has
paid out millions to settle wrong-
ful death lawsuits. When D.C.
considered contracting with Cori-
zon in 2015, inmate advocates and
other opponents successfullyquashed the proposed agree-
ment.
Julius Spain, president of the
local branch of the NAACP, said
his group is still seeking account-
ability.
“Although the Sheriff’s Of fice is
seeking a new medical contractor,
the issue remains that there have
been six in-custody deaths in six
years, as reported by the Arling-
ton County Sheriff’s Of fice,” he
said.
Arlington Public Defender
Brad Haywood said he was
pleased that the county was cut-
ting ties with “an abominablemedical provider like Corizon.”
But he said he doubts whether
any outside firm can provide de-
cent care.
Other prison-health-care con-
tractors have faced similar allega-
tions of neglect and abuse, he
said.
“A county that claims to be
dedicated to a new paradigm for
our criminal justice system ought
to have the best psychiatric ser-
vices and medical services,” he
said. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
[email protected]Te o Armus contributed to this report.VIRGINIA
Arlington severs contract with jail’s medical-services operator after deaths
BY TEO ARMUSArlington County Board candi-
date Audrey Clement, who previ-
ously told news outlets that she is
in her early 50s, appears to be
two decades older, according to
government records.
When asked about the discrep-
ancy, Clement, a perennial candi-
date who has largely self-funded
her independent campaigns for
local of fice, said that asking for
her age amounted to discrimina-
tion and violated her right to
privac y.
“I believe that The Washington
Post doesn’t have any right to
require that information of me or
any other political candidate,” she
said in a phone interview Mon-
day. “I believe that it is a violation
against my civil right and a mani-
festation of ageism.”
Earlier this month, The Post
sent an online questionnaire to all
four candidates running for the
board’s one open seat. The survey
included several required ques-
tions on basic biographical infor-
mation — including age, neigh-
borhood and occupation — and
asked candidates to describe their
stances on local issues.
In her submission last week,
Clement reported her age as 52. In
voter registration records re-
viewed by The Post on Monday,
she reported that she was born in
March 1949 — which would make
her twenty years older. A court
record for a 2007 traffic tick et also
listed her birthday as falling in the
same month and year.
Asked to confirm whether she
was in fact 72, Clement said, “I
take my Fifth Amendment right
against self-incrimination.” Upon
further questioning, Clement said
she had “achieved the age of 52.”
Clement said an interview
Monday that she intended to
write “I refuse to disclose” in the
part of the survey that asked for
her age, but The Post’s form re-
quired a number for that field.
When that didn’t work, she
tried to leave the field blank, she
said. And when the form didn’t
accept that submission either, she
wrote that she was 52 instead.
Clement never reached out to The
Post to ask that her age not be
disclosed, nor did she request that
the Post article that reported she
was 52 be corrected.
Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar
School of Policy and Government
at George Mason University, said
it is standard practice for report-
ers to ask candidates for elected
office about their age — and that it
was disqualifying for a candidate
to misstate their age.
“If you can’t trust someone toaccur ately represent themselves,
where is the trust for anything
else as a public servant?” he said.
“In the realm of ridiculous, it’s off
the charts.”
Clement, however, claimed
that it should be illegal to ask
candidates for public office about
their age, at first saying it violated
the First Amendment — even
though the First Amendment
does not guarantee a right to
privac y. She then cited federal
employment law, which prevents
employers from asking job candi-
dates their exact age.
Asked why voters should trust
her if she misstates her age, she
again evaded the question.
“I believe that your questioning
of me right now is a violation of
my right to privacy,” she told a
reporter.
In a s ubsequent phone call,
Clement said that “a lot of candi-
dates who reach a certain age are
perceived to be over the hill and
therefore unqualified for the of-
fice for which they are running.”
[email protected]Alice Crites contributed to this report.VIRGINIARecords show Arlington
candidate is 72, not 52
JAMIE GARDNER PHOTOGRAPHY
Audrey Clement, a n Arlington
County Board candidate,
reported an incorrect age in a
Washington Post survey.“I believe that it is a
violation against my
civil right and a
manifestation of
ageism.”
Audrey Clement,
on a Washington Post survey’s
requirement of an age entryboosting service back to normal
levels.
No one was injured in the
Oct. 12 derailment, which
prompted the evacuation of 187
passen gers outside the Arlington
Cemetery station. Wiedefeld said
Monday neither the train opera-
tor nor anyone else at the transit
agency knew the train had previ-
ously derailed at least twice on
the same day, which the NTSB
had noted in a briefing one week
earlie r.
NTSB investigators recovered
brake parts at two other loca-
tions on the train’s route during
their investigation.
“Yes, there were three derail-
ments of that train where that
wheel, in effect, climbed off of
that rail, but the operator did not
know that, nor would anyone
else,” Wiedefeld said.
With all 784 cars out of service
in Metro’s latest series, the tran-
sit agency is operating with 26 8
rail cars, or about 22 percent of
its roughly 1,200-car fleet. Nearly
250 are from its 2000 and 3000
series. Between 10 and 15 percent
of available rail cars are typically
out of se rvice on any given day
for maintenance or repairs.
[email protected]Metro Board Chairman Paul C.
Smedberg said he is encouraged
by progress being made in work-
ing with the safety commission
to return the 7000-series cars.
“Hop efully [we can] get some
of those cars back as quickly as
possible so we can increase serv-
ice and reduce those headways,”
said Smedberg, adding that he ’s
heard from riders about long
waits and crowding. He said he
waited 35 minutes for a train on
Friday.
Wiedefeld said Metro is meet-
ing with the NTSB and Kawasaki
on Tuesday to look at out-of-com-
pliance wheel sets and to provide
data to be analyzed by federal
investigators.
He highlighted other efforts
he called “early actions” to en-
hance the inspection process. He
said Metro is investing in “more
sensitive, more accurate inspec-
tion equipment” that will be used
by maintenance crews. He said
the agency is also transitioning
from a paper-based inspection
process to an ele ctronic system.
Metro has said basic rail serv-
ice will continue through at least
Sunda y, which would be two
weeks after it began. The transit
agency hasn’t set a t imetable ontween 2015 and 2020. National
Transportation Safety Board in-
vestigators have said Metro knew
of a problem for years, while
Metro has said it had been in
contact with the manufacturer,
Kawasaki Rail Car, about the
issue since 2017.
NTSB investigators are trying
to determine why wheels on
several 7000-series cars shifted,
putting trains at greater risk for
derailments and other incidents.
Wiedefeld said during a Mon-
day briefing that Metro is also
working to return some older
trains that had been in storage or
undergoing repairs in an attempt
to alleviate crowding. He said the
transit agency is working to
place 2000- and 3000-series cars
that entered service as far back
as 1982 into service after inspec-
tions.
The suspension of the 7000
series has forced the transit
agency to run the rail system
using about 40 train sets, operat-
ing trains every 15 to 20 minutes
on the Red Line and every 30 to
40 minutes on other lines. Silver
Line trains are operating be-
tween the Wiehle-Reston East
and Federal Center SW stations.
“I understand from a custom-
er perspective it’s clearly not
what we want to offer, but it is
the safest thing that we can
offer ,” Wiedefeld said of service
levels. “We want to get as many of
the existing fle et we have out
there to deal with the immediate
pressure, but the real solution is
getting the 7Ks inspected and
monitored in a way that we’re all
comfortable from a s afety per-
spective.”
The agen cy is also working to
return its 6000-series fleet to the
tracks. Those cars had been
pulled from service in November
after two train separations on the
Red Line last year. Wiedefeld
said their return is slow — p artly
because of challenges in getting
the part that needs to be replaced
— but he said the agency is
adding about one t rain set every
two weeks and expects to add
about a dozen sets over the next
two months.
On Monday, Metro se rvice be-
gan with 31 trains, plus an addi-
tional train to address crowding
on the Green Line, Wiedefeld
said.
METRO FROM B1
Metro works to restore more service
CLIFF OWEN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Metro’s Paul J. Wiedefeld said the agency plans to submit a testing plan this week for its 7000 series.“We want to get as
many of the existing
fleet we have out there
to deal with the
immediate pressure, but
the real solution is
getting the 7Ks
inspected and
monitored in a way that
we’re all comfortable
from a safety
perspective.”
Paul J. Wiedefeld, Metro general
manager, on recent delaysStay one step ahead of the weather with the Capital Weather Gang
washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang • @capitalweather
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