Foster v. Fulton County, Georgia.

• Position: Conditions of confinement, prison administration lawsuit

U.S. District Court

CROWDING

MEDICAL CARE

PRETRIAL DETAINEE

Foster v. Fulton County, Georgia, 223 F.Supp.2d 1292 (N.D.Ga. 2002). Inmates at a county jail, who had tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), brought an action complaining of their conditions of confinement and inadequate medical care. The parties entered into a settlement agreement. Two years later the district court responded to a report that described ten areas in which the county had failed to comply with the terms of the settlement. The court held that continued overcrowding at the jail deprived the HIV-positive inmates of their constitutional right to minimal civilized measures of life's necessities. The court ordered the county to institute additional measures to reduce crowding, including: providing counsel within 72 hours of arrest to all persons accused of minor offenses who could not make bail; expanding the authority of Pretrial Services to include supervision of persons arrested for misdemeanor offenses; eliminating any unreasonable factors used to exclude persons charged with felonies from pretrial release; ensuring persons charged with misdemeanors were offered a reasonable bond; and imposing additional restrictions on the length of time a person could remain in jail without accusation or indictment, or accused or indicted but untried. The court...