Monday, December 24, 2007
Jails and Prisons - The Law Suit
There have been many law suits as a result of overcrowding in prisons and jails. Among the states with the worst problems of overcrowding and the most law suits against them are California, New York, and Texas. Many states are being forced by judges to reduce overcrowding problems and poor conditions in their prisons and jails.
Here are just a few.
In California, Penal Code Section 919(b) requires a Civil Grand Jury to "inquire into the condition and management of the public prisons within the county" This law allowed the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury to investigate conditions at Salinas Valley State Prison in 1999. According to an article from the Superior Court of California, County of Monterey, after interviewing inmates, the Grand Jury found that the prison was placing minimum security inmates with maximum security inmates in the gymnasium at SVSP. The placing of Level I inmates with Level IV inmates in an open space like a gymnasium was of great concern to the Grand Jury. "Overcrowding and housing Level I and Level IV inmates together creates a dangerous situation for both inmates and staff". On that day, Salinas Valley Prison has 4,200 inmates with a designed capacity of 2,224.
In New York, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson set a deadline for the Tutwiler prison for women to develop and submit a plan that details the actions the prison will take to ease overcrowding and the "unconstitutionally unsafe" conditions that exist there. The inmates at Tutwiler prison sued over the deplorable conditions at the jail. The prison has a designed capacity of 364 inmates, but it holds over 1000 inmates. Due to the high possibility of violence as a result of the overcrowding at the prison, another judge, Montgomery Circuit Judge William Shashy, has ordered the state to transfer state inmates from crowded county jails to state prisons within 30 days of their sentencing, has fined the state, and held it in contempt of court for not meeting earlier deadlines to move the prisoners.
In Texas, the prison system has been under attack for its poor conditions for quite some time. In Ruiz v. Estelle, Judge William Wayne Justice ruled that Texas prison conditions were so dismal as to violate the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution, the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. Judge Justice ended up placing the Texas prison system under court supervision. During the time of the Ruiz lawsuit, "inmates were packed into cells and dormitories, with some even being housed in tents. Physical and sexual brutality between inmates and beatings at the hands of guards were commonplace and medical and psychiatric care were negligible". "Researchers have found that residing in dormitories rather than single or double occupancy cells was associated with increased stress and dissatisfaction with the living environment", which in turn can lead to greater incidences of violence. Even Twenty some odd years later, after Texas has built many new prisons, these serious problems still remain.
Here are just a few.
In California, Penal Code Section 919(b) requires a Civil Grand Jury to "inquire into the condition and management of the public prisons within the county" This law allowed the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury to investigate conditions at Salinas Valley State Prison in 1999. According to an article from the Superior Court of California, County of Monterey, after interviewing inmates, the Grand Jury found that the prison was placing minimum security inmates with maximum security inmates in the gymnasium at SVSP. The placing of Level I inmates with Level IV inmates in an open space like a gymnasium was of great concern to the Grand Jury. "Overcrowding and housing Level I and Level IV inmates together creates a dangerous situation for both inmates and staff". On that day, Salinas Valley Prison has 4,200 inmates with a designed capacity of 2,224.
In New York, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson set a deadline for the Tutwiler prison for women to develop and submit a plan that details the actions the prison will take to ease overcrowding and the "unconstitutionally unsafe" conditions that exist there. The inmates at Tutwiler prison sued over the deplorable conditions at the jail. The prison has a designed capacity of 364 inmates, but it holds over 1000 inmates. Due to the high possibility of violence as a result of the overcrowding at the prison, another judge, Montgomery Circuit Judge William Shashy, has ordered the state to transfer state inmates from crowded county jails to state prisons within 30 days of their sentencing, has fined the state, and held it in contempt of court for not meeting earlier deadlines to move the prisoners.
In Texas, the prison system has been under attack for its poor conditions for quite some time. In Ruiz v. Estelle, Judge William Wayne Justice ruled that Texas prison conditions were so dismal as to violate the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution, the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. Judge Justice ended up placing the Texas prison system under court supervision. During the time of the Ruiz lawsuit, "inmates were packed into cells and dormitories, with some even being housed in tents. Physical and sexual brutality between inmates and beatings at the hands of guards were commonplace and medical and psychiatric care were negligible". "Researchers have found that residing in dormitories rather than single or double occupancy cells was associated with increased stress and dissatisfaction with the living environment", which in turn can lead to greater incidences of violence. Even Twenty some odd years later, after Texas has built many new prisons, these serious problems still remain.
Labels: incarceration
