Filed Date: Jan. 24, 1978
Closed Date: Dec. 15, 1978
Clearinghouse coding complete
In 1978, an inmate in the Alabama Prison System filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Alabama Department of Corrections in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants had violated his constitutional rights by utilizing sentencing procedures that confined him in a segregation cell for disciplinary reasons.
On December 15, 1978, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama (Judge Frank Minis Johnson, Jr.) held that the actions of the segregation review boards, which released some inmates from segregation long before their terms were served and confined others much longer than the fixed part of their sentences with only a perfunctory review and no objective criteria to guide them, violated the due process clause. The court also held that black prisoners suffered from racial discrimination in their confinement and retention in punitive segregation in violation of their right to equal protection under the constitution. The court ordered the Alabama State Board of Corrections to promulgate guidelines concerning operations of segregation review boards and make them available to prisoners confined in the segregation unit, to publish a list of valid factors that the review boards must consider in deciding whether to release an inmate from punitive segregation, and to provide written notice of the reasons for the bimonthly review board's actions to each prisoner denied release from segregation. McCray v. Bennett, 467 F.Supp. 187 (M.D.Ala. 1978). We have no further information on the proceedings in this case.
Summary Authors
Kristen Sagar (9/11/2006)
Johnson, Frank Minis Jr. (Alabama)
Carroll, John L. (Alabama)
Baxley, William J. (Alabama)
Breland, Linda C. (Alabama)
Newman, Larry R. (Alabama)
Johnson, Frank Minis Jr. (Alabama)
Last updated March 25, 2024, 3:03 a.m.
Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.State / Territory: Alabama
Case Type(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Jan. 24, 1978
Closing Date: Dec. 15, 1978
Case Ongoing: No reason to think so
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Alabama prison inmates challenging as unconstitutional the sentencing practices followed in confining prisoners to segregation cells for disciplinary reasons
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: Yes
Class Action Outcome: Granted
Defendants
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff
Nature of Relief:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief:
Order Duration: 1978 - None
Issues
General:
Jails, Prisons, Detention Centers, and Other Institutions:
Discrimination-basis:
Type of Facility: