In January or February 2010, Fresno Sheriff Margaret Mims laid off staff and shut down three floors of the county jail, substantially reducing capacity, because her budget wouldn't allow her to staff both the jail and patrol. Because of the jail population cap in Cruz v. Fresno, JC-CA-0066 (listed ...
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In January or February 2010, Fresno Sheriff Margaret Mims laid off staff and shut down three floors of the county jail, substantially reducing capacity, because her budget wouldn't allow her to staff both the jail and patrol. Because of the jail population cap in Cruz v. Fresno, JC-CA-0066 (listed below as a related case), the result was a substantial number of pretrial prisoner releases. The Fresno Board of Supervisors refused to give her any additional money and ordered her office to restore the jail staff; she brought this lawsuit in state court, claiming that as an elected official, only she had authority to decide the appropriateness of layoffs. In July 2010, Sheriff Mims won a preliminary injunction enabling her to carry out the layoffs, but the lawsuit continued; final judgment is pending as of July 2012.
Margo Schlanger - 07/03/2012
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