Opinion ID: 447604
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The October 1983 Proceedings

Text: 12 Initially the defendants complied with the population caps. On August 4, 1983, however, they moved for relief from the May 25, 1983 order because of the anticipated difficulty in finding alternative arrangements for incarceration. This motion was denied, and no appeal was taken. On September 30, 1983 the defendants moved, again, for relief from the May 25, 1983 order. App. 107a. Their moving papers conceded that on September 30, 1983 the jail population exceeded the October 1, 1983 caps (550 males and 40 females) by 42 males and 7 females. As before, defendants relied upon the difficulty in finding alternative arrangements for incarceration. 13 The class representatives opposed modification of the May 25, 1983 order, pointing to the absence of any concrete proposal by the defendants for alternate arrangements, and to the willingness of several private charitable agencies to assist the county in housing low-risk inmates. The class representatives also moved that the court [o]rder Defendants, under penalty of fine or other penalty as deemed appropriate by this Court, to immediately reduce the population of the Jail by whatever means necessary ... and to order any other relief necessary to ensure compliance with the Court's order. App. 115a. 14 A hearing on these motions, at which the defendants offered testimony, was held on October 10, 1983. In its opinion disposing of them the trial court found that since August 15, 1983 the population has been almost constantly in excess of the limits set for October 1, 1983. It found, further, that [a]lthough there has been some reduction in population, the dangerously overcrowded condition of the jail is just as serious today as it was on May 25, 1983. App. 187a. To meet that emergency, the court held that Director William B. Robinson and Warden Charles Kozakiewicz would be ordered to release on their own recognizance those prisoners held in default of the lowest amount of bail, until the population limits of the May 25, 1983 order were met. App. 186a. On October 20, 1983 such an order was entered. 1 573 F.Supp. 454. 15 No appeal was taken from the October 20, 1983 order.