On August 4, 1983, inmates at the Norfolk County Jail in Massachusetts filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. §1983 against Norfolk County in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The plaintiffs alleged that their constitutional rights had been violated by overcrowding at the jail.

On January 17, 1984, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Judge Walter Skinner) held that overcrowding at the jail violated the plaintiffs' constitutional rights and issued a preliminary injunction requiring that the population at the jail be capped at 143 prisoners. The population of the jail continued to exceed the population cap ordered by the court, and on April 29, 1986, the plaintiffs amended their complaint to include the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, Governor Michael Dukakis, and other representatives of the Commonwealth. The additional defendants were added in an effort to assert that the unconstitutional conditions at the jail could not be remedied without Commonwealth funds and to compel the Commonwealth to contribute. The Commonwealth officials asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit.

On November 26, 1986, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Judge Skinner) denied the defendants' motion to dismiss, holding that the Commonwealth officials were properly included as defendants and that the plaintiffs had stated a civil rights cause of action against them. Libby v. Marshall, 653 F.Supp. 359 (D.Mass. 1986). The defendants appealed.

On November 24, 1987, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (Judge Levin Campbell, Judge William Timbers, and Judge Stephen Breyer) affirmed the district court's ruling and dismissed the appeal. Libby v. Marshall, 833 F.2d 402 (1st Cir. 1987). We have no information on the order issued by the district court following the dismissal of the defendants' appeal.

On March 26, 1992, the defendants asked the court to dismiss the case, and on April 6, 1992, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Judge Skinner) closed the case. The plaintiffs asked the court to award them attorneys' fees, and on June 3, 1992, the court (Judge Skinner) awarded the plaintiffs $70,103.61 in attorneys' fees and costs. We have no further information on the proceedings in this case.

Kristen Sagar - 04/14/2006


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