In what some legal scholars call the “perfect storm” of what disabled inmates face in a global pandemic, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that a wheelchair-bound prisoner who had no access to a bathroom and running water was held in “unconstitutionally cruel” conditions.

The justices by 9-0 ordered the Washington State Department of Corrections to make changes to allow inmate Robert Rufus Williams to have access to both in lieu of releasing him to the community.