Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 12, 1993 TAG: 9302120081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
INMATE FILES SUIT AGAINST ROANOKE JAIL
One of nearly 500 inmates in a jail meant to hold 216 has filed a federal lawsuit, seeking relief from the "inhumane conditions" inside the Roanoke City Jail."Our rights under the Constitution are being abused," Perley Andrew Perkins wrote in scrawling longhand on papers filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke.
The lawsuit comes at a time when city officials already are facing pressure from Sheriff Alvin Hudson and Circuit Court judges to do something about overcrowding that has been growing steadily in recent years.
"I'm not surprised," Hudson said after learning of the lawsuit. "We're doing everything we can as fast as we can do it."
In a form lawsuit prepared for inmates who have no attorney, Perkins said he has been "sleeping on the floor under a sink for 3 1/2 months."
Although the suit was roughly crafted and contained misspellings - "two-man sell, but three men in the sell" - it possibly could lead to court-ordered change.
In Lynchburg, a federal magistrate last year ordered city officials to reduce the jail's population after inmates filed similar complaints.
But Fain Rutherford, a Roanoke lawyer who has represented the jail in other constitutional claims by prisoners, said it is too early to tell if Perkins' suit might have similar implications.
Because Roanoke's jail has a unique design, a court ruling that overcrowding amounts to cruel and unusual punishment in other jails may or may not apply here.
"Overcrowding can, in some cases, rise to a Constitutional magnitude," Rutherford said.
"But the jail has to strike a balance between Devil's Island on one extreme and the Marriott on the other extreme. The jail has to make conditions liveable, but it does not have to suit the every whim of the inmates."
In his lawsuit, Perkins also complained about poor medical treatment and cold food. He asked for the following relief:
Immediate medical attention. "I've been prescribed to receive six half-pints of milk daily. I receive only one or two per day."
Relief from the "inhumane conditions" at the jail, including cramped sleeping quarters and refusal of toilet paper and soap. "I had eight broken ribs and a broken right hand when I was assigned to the floor. I was refused attention in the medical ward because they said it was overcrowded."
Three hot meals a day. "The food may be prepared hot, but it is always served cold."
$25,000 in punitive damages.
Rutherford had not seen Perkins' lawsuit Thursday. But in general, he said, inmate complaints about overcrowding are likely to be taken more seriously than personal gripes.
Although Perkins' complaint is not a class-action suit, "because the overcrowding allegation involves more than one prisoner, it will probably get more scrutiny," Rutherford said.
It is common for the federal court to receive inmate complaints on the forms like the one Perkins used. But court officials said his suit was the first to detail constitutional complaints about overcrowding.
While acknowledging that the jail is holding too many inmates, Hudson disputes complaints about poor food and improper medical treatment.
He said the jail kitchen routinely receives surprise inspections by Health Department officials, and that it ranks better that some restaurants in the city.
As for medical attention, he cited recent statistics that show an average of 262 inmates receive medical attention daily. Many prisoners expect the jail infirmary to treat pre-existing conditions for which they sought no care until they were incarcerated, Hudson said.
On Thursday morning, the jail was holding 467 inmates. The count could easily top 500 as prisoners serving weekend shifts arrive and police make the usual Saturday-night arrests.
The jail, which was designed to hold 216 inmates, has been overcrowded since the day it opened in 1979. But a recent law that makes state inmates with five-year terms or less serve their time in jails instead of prisons has sent the population soaring.
Cells designed for one inmate are holding three, and day areas meant for 10 are often crowded with 30. Mattresses are placed on the floor each night, and some inmates must sit on the floor to eat their meals.
Hudson said he has been meeting with city officials almost daily to deal with the overcrowding situation. "I don't think things can move any faster," he said.
Council members agreed Wednesday they have no choice but to expand the jail, after Roanoke Circuit Court judges put the city on notice earlier in the week that it must ease the overcrowding quickly.
Under a plan recommended by Hudson, two adjacent buildings on Campbell Avenue will be acquired and converted into cells and related facilities.
The expansion would provide 220 additional beds and would cost $7 million. City officials hope to persuade the state to pay 25 percent of the cost.
The only unresolved issue is financing. Council will issue bonds but must decide whether to raise taxes to repay them or use money freed up in coming years because of a decrease in debt payments on other bonds.
Perkins is serving a 17-year sentence for a robbery that he says he did not commit. He was recently convicted on a second charge, of robbing a bank, and is awaiting sentencing in that case.
In a hearing in federal court earlier this month, Perkins said he robbed the bank because he wanted to go to jail for something that he really did.
Staff writer Joel Turner contributed information for this story.