Columbus, Ohio, Ordered to Desegregate its Jail, End Abusive Treatment
A federal judge on this day ordered the city of Columbus, Ohio, to desegregate its jail, the Columbus Correctional Facility, and to stop abusive practices against inmates.
Inmates testified that they were often shackled to their beds for days and not allowed to use toilet facilities or be released for meals. The judge called the practices a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, in a suit brought by the ACLU.
What is probably most remarkable about the case was the fact that a state had a racially segregated jail or prison as late as 1979.
Learn more about prisoners’ rights: https://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights
Read a Primer on Prisoners’ Rights.
Read: John W. Wright, Constitutional Rights of Prisoners (2015)