On May 11, 1981, prisoners at the Missouri Training Center for Men in Moberly, Missouri, filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. §1983 against the Missouri Department of Corrections in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The plaintiffs, represented by Gateway Legal Services, alleged that their constitutional rights had been violated by overcrowding at the prison.

On November 21, 1983, the parties entered into a consent decree, and on December 30, 1983, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (Judge John Regan) approved the consent decree and terminated the case.

On January 25, 1996, the defendants asked the court to modify the consent decree, allowing them to permanently increase the inmate population at the prison. On October 15, 1996, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (Judge David Noce) permanently modified the consent decree, allowing the defendants to increase the prison population to 1800 prisoners. The plaintiffs appealed this decision.

On February 11, 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued a per curiam opinion affirming the district court's decision to modify the consent decree. Parton v. White, 203 F.3d 552 (8th Cir. 2000). The plaintiffs appealed this decision, and on October 30, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for writ of certiorari and refused to consider the case. Cooper v. White, 531 U.S. 963 (2000).

Kristen Sagar - 03/31/2006


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