Opinion ID: 1194191
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Violation of the Stewart orders governing prison conditions.

Text: Stewart v. Gates was commenced in 1975 when a class of pretrial detainees challenged the constitutionality of various practices and conditions of confinement in the Orange County Central Jail in Santa Ana, California. 450 F.Supp. 583 (D.C.Cal.1978). In 1978, the district court presiding over the case issued an injunction, establishing various standards for pretrial detention. Id. at 590-91 (holding that the court retained jurisdiction to modify the orders upon a showing of good cause). In 1991, the district court made clear that the order applied to all of the Orange County jails: Men's Central Jail, Women's Central Jail, Intake Release Center, James A. Musick Facility, and Theo Lacy Facility. The Stewart orderswhich have been modified in the years since the initial injunction was issuedaddress detainees' access to telephones, law books, reading materials, and interjail mail to jailhouse lawyers; provide for mattresses, beds, and blankets; establish mealtimes and sleeptimes; require seating while awaiting transport to and from court; and set population caps. The orders also address several issues pertaining specifically to inmates in administrative segregation: their access to religious services, day rooms, exercise, and visitors. [3] The Stewart orders subject to challenge in this litigation are reproduced as Appendix A to this opinion. Specifically, plaintiffs in Pierce maintain that they have been subjected to holding-cell conditions deemed unconstitutional in Stewart and have been denied the minimum mealtime held to be constitutionally required in Stewart. In addition, plaintiffs contend that inmates housed in administrative segregation are denied the minimum access to religious services, the day room, and exercise that Stewart held to be constitutionally required. Plaintiffs sought relief for the alleged violations pursuant to § 1983. Attacking the same conduct, plaintiffs also allege due process violations under the California Constitution, breach of mandatory duties under Title 15 of the California Code of Regulations (which sets minimum standards for county jails) in violation of § 815.6 of the California Government Code, and breach of § 54.1 of the California Civil Code. The County, meanwhile, sought termination of the Stewart orders in their entirety pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b), a section of the PLRA that allows a court to terminate prospective injunctive relief governing prison conditions on a showing that the injunction is no longer needed to correct a current and ongoing violation of a Federal right.