People held in a Georgia jail are being denied access to pens, effectively eliminating their ability to communicate with their lawyers by mail, according to a filing in federal court.

Civil rights groups sued Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill and several of his high-ranking subordinates in July, alleging that overcrowding, a lack of personal protective equipment and limited access to cleaning and sanitation supplies were putting people in the county jail at risk of exposure to the coronavirus. A judge in December approved class-action status for the lawsuit, meaning it would include all current and future detainees.