On March 29, 1990, prisoners at the Yolo County Jail filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California against the County of Yolo and the County Sheriff. The plaintiffs, represented by the Prisoner Rights Union and private counsel, filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, challenging the constitutionality of their conditions of confinement. They sought declaratory and injunctive relief.

On July 2, 1990, the District Court (Senior Judge Milton L. Schwartz) certified the case as a class action on behalf of all prisoners in the Yolo County Jail as of the day of filing and set the terms for a preliminary injunction, the content of which is unclear form the docket. It is likely that the decree included some measures relating to jail population.

On July 16, 1991, the parties lodged a consent decree with the Court for its approval, and on December 11, 1991, the Court (Magistrate Judge John F. Moulds) approved the decree and dismissed the case. The content of this decree, too, is unfortunately unclear from the docket. According to the 2008-2009 Yolo County Grand Jury Final Report, pg. 11-12, the decree required that each inmate housed at the facility has an assigned bed and thereby limits the number of inmates that can be housed to the number of beds.

On February 11, 1992, the Court (Magistrate Judge Moulds) awarded the plaintiffs $42,150.99 in attorneys' fees and costs. Five years later, on August 25, 1997, the Court (Magistrate Judge Moulds) issued an order regarding modification of the consent decree, the content of which is again unknown. No further substantive entries appear on the docket, and as of the time of this writing we have no further information on this case.

Christopher Schad - 08/27/2012
Samantha Kirby - 10/25/2014


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