Case: Stanwood v. Green
3:72-cv-00981 | U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
Filed Date: Dec. 1, 1972
Closed Date: 1991
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Case Summary
On December 1, 1972, plaintiff filed a civil rights lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, against Coos County, Oregon, and relevant officials, alleging unconstitutional conditions of confinement at Coos County Jail in Coquille, Oregon. The parties entered into a consent decree in August, 1976, in which the County agreed to remedy the overcrowded, unsanitary conditions at the Jail.
In February, 1981, the County threatened to move all inmates for an extended period of time to a facility that had been designated under the 1976 decree as appropriate only for short-term housing of prisoners in order to renovate the Jail. The plaintiff objected, and the parties agreed to an amended consent decree which was entered by the district court (Judge James M. Burns) in February, 1982.
There was subsequent litigation concerning attorney's fees, but the district court (Judge Burns) determined that, because the original complaint had been settled by a consent decree prior to the enactment of the statute authorizing an award of attorney's fees, the plaintiffs were not entitled to fees despite the subsequent motion for contempt. Stanwood v. Green, 559 F.Supp. 196 (D. Oregon 1983). The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed. Stanwood v. Green, 744 F.2d 714 (9th Cir. 1984)(per curiam). On August 22, 1991, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon (Judge Burns) granted defendants' motion for relief from the consent decree and dismissed the case.
Summary Authors
Megan Raynor (3/6/2006)
People
Burns, James Milton (Oregon)
Goodwin, Alfred Theodore (California)
Bailey, Ronald E. (Oregon)
Gillespie, Michael (Oregon)
Hunsaker, I. Franklin III (Oregon)
Documents in the Clearinghouse
Docket
Last updated March 23, 2025, 9:18 a.m.
Case Details
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Dec. 1, 1972
Closing Date: 1991
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Inmate at a county jail
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: Unknown
Filed Pro Se: Unknown
Class Action Sought: Unknown
Class Action Outcome: Unknown
Defendants
County
Coos County Jail
Facility Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Constitutional Clause(s):
Due Process: Substantive Due Process
Other Dockets:
District of Oregon 3:72-cv-00981
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 83-04017
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff OR Mixed
Relief Granted:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree
Order Duration: 1976 - 1991
Issues
General/Misc.:
Sanitation / living conditions
Jails, Prisons, Detention Centers, and Other Institutions:
Case Summary of Stanwood v. Green, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/226/ (last updated 3/6/2006).