Merriweather v. Sherwood.

• Position: ACCESS TO COURT - Brief Article

U.S. District Court

LAW LIBRARY

Merriweather v. Sherwood, 235 F.Supp.2d 339 (S.D.N.Y. 2002). Prison officials moved, under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), to dissolve a prison conditions consent decree entered 24 years earlier. Prisoners moved to postpone the automatic stay of the consent decree's provisions. The district court held that it lacked the discretion to postpone the automatic stay once the stay came into effect 30 days after the motion to dissolve was filed. The court noted that even assuming it had the discretion to postpone the automatic stay, the prisoners failed to show that they were entitled to a postponement, where the record did not demonstrate widespread or ongoing...