Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/10pdf/09-1233.pdf
Page Number: 27

Cite as:  563 U. S. ____ (2011) 

21 

Opinion of the Court 

available.”  Id., at 1408. 

Even  on  the  assumption  that  vacant  positions  could  be
filled,  the  evidence  suggested  there  would  be  insufficient 
space  for  the  necessary  additional  staff  to  perform  their
jobs.  The  Plata  Receiver,  in  his  report  on  overcrowding,
concluded  that  even  the  “newest  and  most  modern  pris-
ons”  had  been  “designed  with  clinic  space  which  is  only
one-half  that  necessary  for  the  real-life  capacity  of  the 
prisons.”  App.  1023  (emphasis  deleted).    Dr.  Haney  re-
ported that “[e]ach one of the facilities I toured was short
of  significant  amounts  of  space  needed  to  perform  other-
wise  critical  tasks  and  responsibilities.”    Id.,  at  597–598. 
In  one  facility,  staff  cared  for  7,525  prisoners  in  space
designed  for  one-third  as  many.  Juris.  App.  93a.  Staff 
operate  out  of  converted  storage  rooms,  closets,  bath-
rooms,  shower  rooms,  and  visiting  centers.  These  make-
shift  facilities  impede  the  effective  delivery  of  care  and
place  the  safety  of  medical  professionals  in  jeopardy, 
compounding the difficulty of hiring additional staff.

This  shortfall  of  resources  relative  to  demand  contrib-
utes  to  significant  delays  in  treatment.  Mentally  ill  pris-
oners  are  housed  in  administrative  segregation  while 
awaiting  transfer  to  scarce  mental  health  treatment  beds
for  appropriate  care.    One  correctional  officer  indicated 
that  he  had  kept  mentally  ill  prisoners  in  segregation  for 
“ ‘6 months or more.’ ”  App. 594.  Other prisoners awaiting 
care are held in tiny, phone-booth sized cages.  The record 
documents instances of prisoners committing suicide while 
awaiting treatment.6 

Delays are no less severe in the context of physical care. 

—————— 

6 For  instance,  Dr.  Pablo  Stewart  reported  that  one  prisoner  was
referred  to  a  crisis  bed  but,  “[a]fter  learning  that  the  restraint  room 
was not available and that there were no crisis beds open, staff moved
[the  prisoner]  back  to  his  administrative  segregation  cell  without  any
prescribed observation.”  App. 736.  The prisoner “hanged himself that 
night in his cell.”  Ibid.; see also Juris. App. 99a.