NCJ Number
89480
Journal
Corrections Magazine Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1983) Pages: 22-31
Date Published
1983
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Winning jail litigation condemns the current conditions and mandates change, but the difficult process follows, i.e., determining what changes to make and how to make them in a system notoriously resistant to change.
Abstract
According to a 1982 National Sheriff's Association survey responded to by 2,664 of the country's 3,493 county jails, 10.7 percent of the respondents were under court order concerning such issues as overcrowding, inadequate recreation, and lack of medical services, classification, or visitation rights. Another 423 jails (15.9 percent) had been under court order on such matters in the recent past. Some 529 jails (19.9 percent) were parties to pending lawsuits on such conditions. One of the most significant recent developments in jail litigation has been statewide legal actions which include many, if not all, of a State's jails. Much of the frustration of the aftermath of the successful suits is the failure of many court orders to provide solutions for the jail conditions cited as unconstitutional. This has prompted some reformers to seek diversionary remedies to relieve a jail's problems; e.g., attorneys in Maricopa County, Ariz., and Prince George's County, Md., helped shape court orders that required defendants to seek consultation from the Pretrial Services Resource Center, which provides information and technical assistance. Also, those who have tended to view the winning of litigation as being synonymous with reform now realize that the education of the community and politicians is as important if the goals of litigation are to be fulfilled.