Case: Mobile County Jail Inmates v. Purvis

1:76-cv-00416 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama

Filed Date: Aug. 4, 1976

Closed Date: 1985

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Case Summary

In 1976, inmates at the Mobile County Jail in Alabama brought a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama against the Mobile County Commissioners under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming that their conditions of confinement, specifically overcrowding, violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Following litigation, on April 24, 1981, the court found that the conditions violated the inmates' due process rights and were also in violation of the Ei…

In 1976, inmates at the Mobile County Jail in Alabama brought a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama against the Mobile County Commissioners under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming that their conditions of confinement, specifically overcrowding, violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Following litigation, on April 24, 1981, the court found that the conditions violated the inmates' due process rights and were also in violation of the Eighth Amendment. This opinion is not available. According to a later opinion, the court issued an injunctive order on April 27, 1981, directing the defendants to make several changes in the jail conditions related to overcrowding, supervision, health care, and training. The order included a specific schedule for decreasing the population of the facility and subsequent litigation centered on this aspect of the order. The defendants were granted several extensions on the time limits.

On September 14, 1982, plaintiffs filed a motion to begin contempt proceedings. The court ordered defendants to show cause why they should not be held in contempt for violating the April 1981 order. Following a hearing, on October 29, 1982, the district court (Senior Judge Thomas Virgil Pittman) entered an order holding the defendants in contempt of court. Mobile County Jail Inmates v. Purvis, 551 F.Supp. 92 (S.D. Ala. 1982). The court noted that the defendants had been in violation of the court's orders since January 1, 1982 and that there had been no significant reduction in the jail population. In a Memorandum Order dated December 30, 1983, the court ordered the defendants to pay $175,000, with the money to be used to alleviate the overcrowded conditions. On January 17, 1984, a more detailed order followed. Mobile County Jail Inmates v. Purvis, 581 F.Supp. 222 (S.D. Ala. 1984). Judge Pittman held that to relieve overcrowding, a portion of the fines levied against the county commissioners would be used to pay bail bond fees for low-bond pretrial detainees not charged with violent crimes and that a jail monitor would be appointed to oversee the implementation of a plan to reduce overcrowding.

Defendants filed a motion requesting that they be purged of contempt and that fines levied against them be remitted. On January 15, 1985, the district court (Judge Pittman) held that the court would not order the accumulated fines to be used to construct additional jail facilities as requested by defendants. Mobile County Jail Inmates v. Purvis, 600 F.Supp. 788 (S.D. Ala. 1985). The court also found that the defendants showed sufficient good faith to purge themselves of contempt and that the remaining funds from the January 1984 order would be refunded in a year if the defendants discharged their duties under the district court's injunction. The PACER docket contains no information on any proceedings, except to indicate that the case was closed in 1985.

Summary Authors

Angela Heverling (3/20/2006)

People

For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/19536391/parties/mobile-co-jail-inmat-v-sheriff-purvis/


Judge(s)
Attorney for Plaintiff

Bass, Stanley A. (New York)

Blacksher, James U. (Alabama)

Fins, Deborah (New York)

Attorney for Defendant

Bright, Bob (Alabama)

Curtis, Jack M. (Alabama)

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Documents in the Clearinghouse

Document

1:76-cv-00416

Docket (PACER)

May 20, 1985

May 20, 1985

Docket

1:76-cv-00416

Order Supplementing This Court's Order Dated October 29, 1982 Holding the Defendants in Contempt of the Court's Previous Orders

Nov. 15, 1982

Nov. 15, 1982

Order/Opinion

551 F.Supp. 551

1:76-cv-00416

Order

Jan. 17, 1984

Jan. 17, 1984

Order/Opinion

581 F.Supp. 581

1:76-cv-00416

Order Rescinding Contempt Fine

Jan. 15, 1985

Jan. 15, 1985

Order/Opinion

600 F.Supp. 600

Docket

See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/19536391/mobile-co-jail-inmat-v-sheriff-purvis/

Last updated March 23, 2024, 3 a.m.

Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.

Case Details

State / Territory: Alabama

Case Type(s):

Jail Conditions

Key Dates

Filing Date: Aug. 4, 1976

Closing Date: 1985

Case Ongoing: No

Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Description:

Inmates of county jail alleging overcrowding in the prison

Plaintiff Type(s):

Private Plaintiff

Public Interest Lawyer: Unknown

Filed Pro Se: Unknown

Class Action Sought: Unknown

Class Action Outcome: Unknown

Defendants

Mobile County Jail (Mobile), County

Case Details

Causes of Action:

42 U.S.C. § 1983

Constitutional Clause(s):

Due Process

Equal Protection

Available Documents:

Trial Court Docket

Any published opinion

Outcome

Prevailing Party: Plaintiff

Nature of Relief:

Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement

Source of Relief:

Litigation

Order Duration: 1981 - 1985

Issues

Jails, Prisons, Detention Centers, and Other Institutions:

Crowding / caseload