|
|
| ACLU asks court to block move of death row |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/18/2005 |
|
Civil rights advocates asked a federal court to stop the state from moving death row to a super-maximum security prison in Youngstown, Ohio arguing that a prior court ruling forbids inmates from being sent there unless they pose a security risk. The state's plan to move death row inmates to the Ohio State Penitentiary to save money would deny them their constitutional due process rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio said in a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland. ACLU legal director Jeff Gamso said Tuesday that moving 192 death row inmates from the Mansfield Correctional Institution to the supermax would violate that ruling. Therefore, the ACLU has asked federal Judge James Gwin to find the state in contempt of court. A message seeking comment was left for Attorney General Jim Petro's office. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and Gov. Bob Taft's office declined comment, saying they hadn't seen the ACLU motion filed late Monday. State prison officials last month said they plan to move death row from Mansfield to the 500-bed prison in Youngstown sometime this summer. The prison is designed for the most dangerous inmates. Except for an hour a day, inmates are kept in 80-square-foot cells - with 67 square feet of living space - built to prevent them from communicating with each other. Inmates also face tighter security, with strip searches, and less access to telephones and personal items. ACLU volunteer attorney Mike Benza said that inmates on death row in Mansfield are not causing disturbances and do not qualify to be held at the supermax. He questioned how the state can save money when the daily cost to house an inmate at Mansfield is $57.73 compared with $157.67 at the supermax, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Web site. The department expects to have figures in the next few weeks on what the savings would be, spokeswoman Andrea Dean said. Deputy director Terry Collins has previously said the move could save "millions of dollars" as the legislature debates how to distribute money in the tightest budget in 40 years. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think