A tuberculosis scare has shut down the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami, but attorneys are hinting the government shutdown might be the true cause.

The Southern District of Florida Blog, run by criminal defense attorney David Oscar Markus, broke the story, writing that “FDC-Miami is still shutdown due to a supposed TB scare.” It posted an email from marshals providing an update on the quarantine, after an inmate allegedly showed signs of the disease on Wednesday. No defendants are being brought to trial, attorney visits have stopped and at least one case has been canceled, according to the post.

Prison medical managers are awaiting test results to confirm a positive or negative diagnosis on the patient, a facility cook at the Federal Correctional Institution in Yazoo County, Mississippi, who recently traveled to Florida for a court appearance.

The quarantine comes amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, playing out in the background with reports of federal Transportation Security Administration officers, air traffic controllers and other government employees taking sick days in droves after being forced to work without pay.

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But Miami marshals attributed the suspension to a precautionary quarantine at the prison, which houses 1,148 male and female inmates, according to its website.

Tuberculosis is a potentially fatal and contagious bacterial disease that typically strikes the lungs but can attack any area of the body. It's airborne and spread by coughing, sneezing and talking. But Markus suggests there might be more to the quarantine.

David Oscar Markus of Markus Moss. Courtesy photo.

“The shutdown is having so many negative consequences, it's hard to measure,” he told the Daily Business Review. “Now it's taken aim at the Sixth Amendment as lawyers cannot even visit their clients. It won't be long 'till prosecutors and defenders won't be able to do their jobs, which will cause a crisis.”

The Federal Detention Center is no stranger to TB alerts, according to Markus's post, which claims this is the first time a potential infection has stopped all visitation and court activity.

According to Henry P. Bell, Criminal Justice Act representative for the Southern District of Florida, the quarantine is still in effect and he's waiting to hear whether it will continue tomorrow.

“Essentially, we've been told that because of the risk associated with the infected inmate and possibly other inmates, there's a quarantine,” he said.

Bell conceded that the timing of the quarantine has caused some people to question the reasoning behind it, but stressed that he had no reason to doubt the official line.

“I accept at face value what I'm being told,” Bell said. “These are representations being made to me by a lawyer from the Bureau of Prisons, and I believe these representations have been made to the court itself. I don't have any reason to cast dispersion or doubt on that.”

Bell received word from the Bureau of Prisons Consolidated Legal Center in South Florida, which also informed the court and members of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The U.S. Marshals Service in South Florida would not comment on the status of the TB alert, and the Bureau of Prisons did not respond before deadline.

If the quarantine period had lasted much longer, Bell suspected defense attorneys would consider asking judges to release their clients on bond while they awaited trail. But on Tuesday afternoon, Miami marshals announced that services will return to normal on Wednesday, after the TB was not deemed infectious.

The suspension has caused serious issues for lawyers, according to Michael Caruso, federal public defender for South Florida.

“An in-person visit is the only way a lawyer can have a private conversation with his or her client,” Caruso said. “The Bureau of Prisons long has refused to set up a system where a lawyer and client can have a secure communication through either email or telephone. These types of communications are monitored by the Department of Justice and therefore are of limited value.”

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