By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, March 11, 1992
The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | B05
The state has asked the federal judge presiding over a lawsuit by Bergen County Jail inmates to reduce overcrowding at the jail to dismiss the suit, arguing that the inmates failed to prove their case.
When the state Inmate Advocacy Office, which represents the prisoners, finished presenting its case on Feb. 24, it did not prove that “deliberate indifference” by the state and county led to cruel living conditions in the jail, Deputy Attorney General Catherine M. Brown said in her motion.
Brown cited a July 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made it tougher for inmates to sue to improve living conditions in prisons. Inmates must show not only inhumane conditions, but “deliberate indifference” by prison officials, the court said in a 5-4 decision.
Assistant Deputy Public Advocate Audrey Bomse said the state’s arguments in the motion for dismissal were without foundation.
“They are misreading the law,” Bomse said. “To show deliberate indifference, you don’t have to get inside a person’s mind. All you have to do is show knowledge for a long period of time, and failure to act.”
Moreover, her office has shown that conditions in the jail have worsened, she said.
The state is a co-defendant with the county in the 1988 lawsuit. Bergen County’s two jails house about 1,000 inmates in space meant for 423. About 400 of the inmates are state prisoners.
Overcrowding exacerbates violations of the inmates constitutional rights, the lawsuit maintains. The rights are eroded through conditions and policies affecting housing, health services, sanitation, and other areas.
Jerrold Binney, assistant to County Executive William “Pat” Schuber, said the county continues to defend itself in the suit. But he added that the state is still responsible for a significant part of the jail’s overcrowding.
“Regardless of the outcome of the case,” Binney said, “we will continue to push for relief from the state financially.”
When the three parties in the case failed to reach an out-of-court settlement, Ackerman appointed James A. Zazzali as special master to conduct fact-finding hearings and to make recommendations. A yearlong break in hearings so the parties could negotiate a settlement last year ended in failure, and the hearings resumed.
Ackerman is scheduled to hear Brown’s motions on April 13.
ID: 17371091 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)
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