A class of pretrial detainees held at Middlesex County Jail brought suit in Superior Court against the Sheriff to challenge constitutionality of jail conditions. The trial court found that the overcrowded conditions at the jail violated plaintiffs' due process rights and ordered defendant not to allow more than one inmate in a cell, not to allow inmates to sleep on the floor, and to reduce the total population of the jail. Defendants appealed the decision and the court's denial of defendant's joinder motion, and plaintiffs cross-appealed the court's denial of their motion to amend judgment pending the appeal. In 1990, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (Judge Ruth I. Abrams) affirmed the lower court's order but remanded the case for further proceedings regarding additional remedial measures. The Court also ordered that the additional defendants must be joined. Richardson v. Sheriff of Middlesex Co., 553 N.E.2d 1286 (Mass. 1990). The docket for this case is not available on PACER, and therefore our information ends with the last reported decision in 1990.

Lauren Cutson - 05/23/2005


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