Edward and Darlene Baker filed a class-action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky on behalf of their seventeen-year-old son Glenn, who was placed in the Jefferson County Jail by the Juvenile Court, and on behalf of other youths incarcerated there. They alleged that placement of juveniles in the county jail constituted a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment because it treated the juveniles as adults for punitive purposes without allowing them the due process rights given to adults, and that placement of juveniles in county jail constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment due to poor conditions at the jail. They sought declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as damages.

On April 25, 1972, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky (Judge Charles Allen) granted the injunction, but denied monetary damages. The Court held that placement of juveniles in the county jail did constitute a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment because it treated the juveniles as adults for punitive purposes without allowing them the due process rights given adults, and that placement of juveniles in county jail constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment due to poor conditions at the jail. Baker v. Hamilton, 345 F.Supp. 345 (W.D.Ky. 1972).

Kristen Sagar - 02/22/2006
Andrew Junker - 11/04/2014


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