
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 29, 1993                   TAG: 9307290231
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

JAIL GETS REPRIEVE ON SUITS INMATES WHO GRIPED ABOUT CROWDING ARE OUT

Six months after lawsuits claimed that overcrowding at the Roanoke City Jail amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, the jail still is crowded - but not with litigious inmates.

Many of the inmates who filed lawsuits have been transferred to prison or released, leading a federal judge to dismiss their cases.

There still are a few claims pending, according to Fain Rutherford, a Roanoke attorney who represents the jail.

But at least eight cases were dismissed this month in U.S. District Court in Roanoke when the inmates failed to give court officials forwarding addresses after they left the jail.

"They no longer have any interest in the conditions of the jail, because they aren't in there anymore," Rutherford said.

As for the cases that remain, the mere fact that a jail is overcrowded - in Roanoke, nearly 500 prisoners share a facility built for 236 - is not enough on which to stake a constitutional claim, lawyers say.

In order to prove a violation of the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment, there must be a showing that the overcrowding creates a risk to inmate health and safety.

And to collect damages, inmates must prove that jail officials acted with "deliberate indifference" in allowing the conditions to exist.

Although legal action seems to have stalled, city officials are still under pressure to expand the jail. Sheriff Alvin Hudson has made numerous appeals to City Council, and Circuit Court judges have put the city on notice that the problem must be addressed.

The city plans to convert an adjacent building on Campbell Avenue into jail space, creating an extra 160 cells at a cost of $7 million.

But with construction still a year away, the jail likely will continue to house two and sometimes three inmates in cells designed for one.

Double- and triple-bunking was often cited in the lawsuits, but inmates found other conditions to complain about:

Pancakes often are served without syrup, one suit claimed, and the jail kitchen is too stingy with seasoning, juice and milk.

The jail's infirmary does not provide adequate medical care, other inmates claimed.

Rutherford and other lawyers say the inmates' more personal complaints are less likely to win a judge's sympathy.

by CNB