JUDGE SIDING WITH INMATES FLOOR-SLEEPING SUIT COUNTY'S NIGHTMARE.Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County faces tens of millions of dollars in damages for bedding thousands of prisoners on mattresses on concrete floors after a federal judge tentatively ruled Monday the practice violates the Constitution and is symptomatic symptomatic /symp·to·mat·ic/ (simp?to-mat´ik) 1. pertaining to or of the nature of a symptom. 2. indicative (of a particular disease or disorder). 3. of serious problems in the riot-torn jail system. U.S. District Court Judge Dean D. Pregerson said the practice pointed toward an ``endemic endemic /en·dem·ic/ (en-dem´ik) present or usually prevalent in a population at all times. en·dem·ic adj. 1. problem'' in ``dysfunctional'' facilities where overcrowding overcrowding overcrowding of animal accommodation. Many countries now publish codes of practice which define what the appropriate volumetric allowances should be for each species of animal when they are housed indoors. Breaches of these codes is overcrowding. is commonplace. ``There is something inherently wrong with what is happening at the institution when it reaches a level where so many (inmates) sleep on the floor,'' Pregerson said from the bench. ``Aren't they sleeping on the floor because there isn't enough money to expand the facility? Isn't that what it's all about?'' Pregerson gave lawyers for the county, and Stephen Yagman - representing the class of floor-sleeper inmates he estimated at up to 300,000 - time to make additional arguments before a final ruling. Roger Granbo, assistant county counsel, declined comment, pointing out the case ``is still pending.'' ``We'll deal with it when it becomes final.'' Floor sleeping was ended last September as some additional facilities were opened to provide more bunks, in addition to letting some inmates convicted of misdemeanors out early, said Marc Klugman, Chief of the Correctional Services Division. The class-action lawsuit - which Yagman said could reach damages of $100 million if the ruling becomes final and more members of the class make claims - comes as the county's troubled jail system has faced a series of recent riots, mainly between black and Latino inmates. Sheriff Lee Baca Leroy David Baca (b. May 27 1942, East Los Angeles, California) is the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California. After graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School (Los Angeles) in 1960, Baca worked his way through East Los Angeles College before starting with the L.A. has announced he's looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. $300 million from the county to reopen re·o·pen tr. & intr.v. re·o·pened, re·o·pen·ing, re·o·pens 1. To open or be opened again: Officials reopened the airport after the snow was cleared. Schools reopen in September. the Sybil Brand women's jail, hire more deputies, and to make other changes in the system to stem the violence. Baca did not return calls for comment on the judge's tentative ruling. Klugman said ``the system was hard hit'' by a string of bad budget years that forced facilities to close, contributing to the overcrowding and floor sleeping. An injunction against overcrowding in the jails, indicated by floor sleeping, has been in place for nearly three decades, and recently was redrawn to prohibit repeat floor sleeping of inmates - but has never been challenged in court. Ramona Ripston, executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , applauded the tentative ruling. ``There shouldn't be any floor sleepers,'' she said. Yagman said he took the class-action case after inmates who had gotten out of jail complained of their treatment, and that the names of about 24,000 inmates were collected between May 29 and Sept. 29. In court, he said the issue is one of ``human dignity Human dignity is an expression that can be used as a moral concept or as a legal term. Sometimes it means no more than that human beings should not be treated as objects. Beyond this, it is meant to convey an idea of absolute and inherent worth that does not need to be acquired and ,'' and how floor sleeping is a ``degradation of people that deprives them of their dignity,'' in violation of due process under the 14th Amendment. ``There has been a pattern of deliberate indifference; they throw up their hands and say, 'We can't fix it,''' Yagman said. ``They can't do that; they have to be responsible.'' Yagman said the county could resolve much of the problem and save ``a fortune'' by moving convicted inmates headed for state prison more quickly. Klugman denied there are transfer delays, saying state-bound inmates usually are moved within a couple of weeks, and no more than about six weeks. He said the jails' population is about 18,500. He also said the jails are clean, with no vermin vermin /ver·min/ (ver´min) 1. an external animal parasite. 2. such parasites collectively.ver´minous ver·min n. pl. , and that inmates received sheets and blankets. ``It's not unlike sleeping on the floor at home. We've all done that ... like when we have company.'' David D. Lawrence, an outside counsel for the county, urged the judge to reconsider, arguing that ``overcrowding by itself isn't unconstitutional unconstitutional adj. referring to a statute, governmental conduct, court decision or private contract (such as a covenant which purports to limit transfer of real property only to Caucasians) which violate one or more provisions of the U. S. Constitution. ,'' and that there must be corresponding findings that factors like poor health or unsafe conditions also exist. ``It's not an issue of numbers; this is the largest jail (system) in the country,'' said Lawrence, with the firm Franscell, Strickland, Roberts & Lawrence. ``It doesn't follow that because there's a lot of them (floor sleepers), there's a single constitutional violation. I don't think the court can look at it that way.'' Beth Barrett, (818) 713-3731 beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com |
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