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| Judge Sets Deadline to Resolve Ind. Jail Overcrowding |
| By Indianapolis Star |
| Published: 06/10/2003 |
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A federal judge decided last week to give officials until July 8 to resolve chronic overcrowding at the Marion County Jail. Judge Sarah Evans Barker also asked that, within seven days from the ruling, the county buy space for 253 inmates at the Marion County Jail II, which is operated by Corrections Corporation of America, a private firm. Barker called the overcrowding 'a seemingly intractable problem' for the city, but she was more flexible on her ruling than some expected. 'Judge Barker addressed some immediate needs,' said Ken Falk, Indiana Civil Liberties Union attorney. 'But we need a long-term solution.' Falk originally asked Barker to cap the inmate population at 1,134 within the week or levy fines of $40 per day per inmate over the limit. On May 26 the inmate population reached a new record when 1,664 people were crammed into the facility, according to state jail inspector Paul Downing. The court hearing, which lasted nearly three hours, drew an audience of 55 criminal justice officials, judges and concerned citizens. Surrounded by oil-painted renderings of justice, Barker was determining whether Sheriff Frank Anderson should be held in contempt of a 1975 court ruling mandating safe and humane jail conditions and that every inmate has a bed. It wouldn't be the first time the jail overcrowding issue has gone before a judge. The county has already been found in contempt once for overcrowding in the Marion County Lockup, a two-floor detention section of the City-County Building where people are taken after arrest. Fines were set ranging from $200 to $500 per day, per inmate over the limit. That order still stands, and the county has never exceeded that cap. But no federal judge has ever set an official inmate limit for the county jail. Six weeks ago, the sheriff, prosecutor, public defender, representatives of the City-County Council and mayor's office, county judges, the Marion County Justice Agency and the ICLU met with Barker in her chambers to discuss jail overcrowding. At that meeting, Barker proposed setting a permanent population cap of 1,100 to 1,300 inmates and gave officials time to fix some of the problems at the jail. Since then, Anderson has cleaned and repainted some cellblocks. He also initiated a comprehensive staffing analysis and is attempting to remedy problems in the jail's kitchen. |
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