Opinion ID: 385707
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Confinement of Pretrial Detainees

Text: 33 Under both the Ledbetter and Diamond regimes, pretrial detainees and convicted persons were confined together and treated alike. The confinement of pretrial detainees indiscriminately with convicted persons is unconstitutional unless such a practice is reasonably related to the institution's interest in maintaining jail security, Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 531, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1874, 60 L.Ed.2d 447, 468 (1979), or physical facilities do not permit their separation. See Barnes v. Virgin Islands, 415 F.Supp. 1218, 1235 (D.V.I.1976); Hamilton v. Landrieu, 351 F.Supp. 549, 552 (E.D.La.1972). Of course, if a particular pretrial detainee has a long record of prior convictions or is likely to be violent, imposition of greater security measures is warranted by the Bell v. Wolfish criteria. Nonetheless, pretrial detainees have a due process right to be considered individually to the extent security and space requirements permit. The defendants have failed to satisfy their constitutional duties in this regard.