Eastern District of California Blog

Class Action Challenges Conditions In Fresno County Jail

In this Hall v. Mims, No. 11-2047-LJO, Class Action Civil Complaint,

Four prisoners are suing the Fresno Jail, claiming dangerous conditions, lack of health care and unusual punishment.

The class action lawsuit was filed Tuesday in federal court. It claims Fresno Sheriff Margaret Mims is violating the prisoners' constitutional rights by denying them treatment for life-threatening illnesses, severe mental health symptoms and serious dental problems.

The suit also alleges prisoners are subjected to violence due to preventable defects in the jail's design, operation and staffing.

Fresno Bee, 12/13/11

Fresno Jail Overcrowding Ruling Delayed Two Weeks

A prisoner-rights attorney on Thursday accused Fresno County Superior Court judges of scheming to undo a 1994 agreement to reduce overcrowding in the Fresno County Jail.

The 17-year-old agreement, Fresno attorney Catherine Campbell told a federal judge, is working fine as is, with Sheriff Margaret Mims deciding when to release prisoners based on adequate staffing levels.

An attorney representing the judges bristled at the accusation, and said the Superior Court jurists are only seeking to clarify the agreement. The judges, Fresno attorney Stephanie Borchers said, want a clear understanding on the settlement's use of the word "capacity."

"I can assure you, the judges don't want to control the jail," Borchers told the judge.

In the end, U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. delayed a decision for two weeks to give the two sides a chance to work out an agreement.

It was a strange end to a hearing that got heated at times. The hearing was also strange in that Fresno County and prisoner-rights attorneys – who once fought bitterly over the case in the 1990s – found themselves allied against the Superior Court judges.

The two sides gathered in a federal courtroom here to decide a simple question: Do Fresno County's Superior Court judges have a right to intervene in the long-settled case?

Fresno Bee, 11/17/11

Despite New Floor Opening Two Weeks Ago, Fresno Jail Full Already

Despite opening a closed floor of the jail, in less than two weeks the Fresno County jail is back near capacity.

"We will probably get overcrowded in three or four days. That means the jail will be releasing those arrested for non violent crimes like car theft early, often that means right after being booked," Rick Hill of the Fresno County Sheriff's Department said.

ABC30, 10/12/11

Proposed Amendments to EDCA Local Rules

The EDCA's website provides notice and an opportunity to comment on the proposed amendments to the EDCA local rules.  Comments, which are due September 21, 2009, may be submitted by email.  Although most amendments are fairly minor, technical changes, a proposed amendment to Appendix A's case assignment procedures would assign any criminal case arising out of a wiretap warrant to the judge who "was assigned" the wiretap in the first place.  I've already blogged about this procedure (which was previously in effect through a non-public, court memo), see my May 18, 2009 post, and have noted that it runs contrary to the Northern District's local rules.