On May 14, 1982, an inmate at the Glades Correctional Institution in Florida filed a pro se lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against representatives of the prison in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Nine other inmates of the prison were eventually added onto the lawsuit, which became a class action, and they were later represented by Florida Rural Legal Services. The inmates asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as damages, alleging that their constitutional rights had been violated by the conditions of their confinement, including failure to protect them from physical and sexual assault by fellow inmates, inadequate ventilation, poor lighting, inadequate exercise, only three showers per week, no canteen privileges, and only limited use of the law library.

On June 4, 1987, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Judge James Carriger Paine) granted declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief to the plaintiffs. LaMarca v. Turner, 662 F.Supp. 647 (S.D.Fla. 1987). The defendants appealed. On October 18, 1988, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit dismissed the appeal without opinion. LaMarca v. Turner, 861 F.2d 724 (11th Cir. 1988). The district court issued further injunctive relief, and the defendants appealed.

On July 7, 1993, the Eleventh Circuit (Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat) partially affirmed and partially vacated the district court's injunction, holding that the court had applied the wrong test in finding liability. The court held that the overall grant of injunctive relief was proper, but that portions of it unnecessarily interfered with the operation of the prison. LaMarca v. Turner, 995 F.2d 1526 (11th Cir. 1993). The parties continued to litigate regarding attorneys fees.

On June 6, 2000, the case was closed by the district court.

Kristen Sagar - 10/17/2006


compress summary