Facilities.

• Position: Brief Article

U.S. District Court

CELL SIZE CELL CAPACITY CROWDING

Chilcote v. Mitchell, 166 F. Supp. 2d 1313 (D. Or. 2001). A former prisoner and detainees at a federal detention center sued officials alleging they were subjected to unconstitutional conditions of confinement. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the officials, finding no Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment violations from the size of the cell. The court noted that all three occupants of the cell could not be off of their bunks at the same time because the cell was so small, and the occupants were confined in the cell for 20 to 21 hours daily. The court found that the crowding was necessitated by the volume of incoming detainees and the lockdown was needed because of the danger posed by detainees had not yet been evaluated. The cells had been designed to house two inmates and ranged in size from 80.7 to 96 square feet. In a triple-bunk cell, 40 to 45 square feet of floor space is covered by the bunks, sink and toilet. The remaining floor space, 35 to 40 square feet "effectively does not permit all three occupants to be off their bunks at the same time." There are no lockers, chairs or tables in the cells. (Federal Detention Center, Sheridan, Oregon)

U.S. District Court ADA- Americans with Disabilities Act

HANDICAP

Kruger v. Jenne, 164 F. Supp. 2d 1330 (S.D. Fla. 2000). A blind county jail inmate brought a [ss] 1983 and Americans with Disability Act (ADA) suit against a sheriff and a private medical care company that contracted to provide medical care to inmates, alleging deprivation of necessary accommodations and failure to treat his medical needs. The district court held that the inmate stated a ?? 1983 Eighth Amendment claim against the company and an ADA claim against the sheriff in his official capacity, and allowed the inmate to maintain simultaneous ADA and ?? 1983 claims against the sheriff. The private medical company allegedly failed to accommodate the inmate's blindness with a cane or otherwise, despite advance notice of...