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| Sheriff must improve access to toilets |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 09/20/2004 |
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A Superior Court judge has ordered Bristol County (Mass.) Sheriff Thomas Hodgson to stop locking inmates in cells without toilets and requiring them to be escorted by an officer when they need to go to the bathroom. The ruling by Suffolk Superior Court Judge John Cratsley gives Hodgson until Sept. 30 to improve access to communal bathrooms in two units at the Bristol County House of Correction. The two units were originally designed without locks or toilets so inmates could leave their cells to go to the bathroom, said attorney James Pingeon, who represents the inmates. Hodgson's decision to lock the cells created situations where inmates soiled themselves, he said. "It's important to run the jail in compliance with the law, and the use of a bathroom is a basic human right," Pingeon told The Standard-Times of New Bedford. Hodgson said he began locking the cells out of concern for inmate and officer safety. "This is a jail, a house of correction, where you have to have a system," he said. "We have people who have anger, dysfunctional issues and occasionally act out against my staff." He said he hasn't decided if he will appeal. Hodgson has been criticized by inmates and civil rights groups for his policies, which have included a ban on smoking and weightlifting and the removal of televisions from cells. Last month, a judge ordered him to stop charging inmates a $5 fee for services such as haircuts and doctor visits. He also came under fire for bringing back chain gangs - prison work crews with shackles and chains. Hodgson says jail should not be a comfortable place. |
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