mark handler
SAWHORSE
June 30, 2011 8:32 a.m.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/county-306440-make-court.html
Court rules against O.C. in jails disability suit
By KIMBERLY EDDS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
714-796-7829 or kedds@ocregister.com
A federal judge has ordered Orange County to make its jails accessible to disabled inmates and bring its facilities into compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, capping a 10-year legal battle.
U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins appointed a monitor to work with the Sheriff's Department to ensure the ordered changes, including modifying cells, installing grab bars for toilets and showers and adding wheelchair ramps, are made. The Sheriff's Department has been working with the court over the last decade to come up with a plan to modify the facilities, and many of the mandated changes were part of the Sheriff's Department plan, Capt. Dave Nighswonger said.
The department has begun working on some of the easier fixes, such as installing grab bars, but other mandated changes will require an architect to bring the county's aging jail facilities into compliance, Nighswonger said. Those projects could take more than a year to complete, he said.
"Now we have a concrete plan to go forward and make changes," he said. "We're at a good stage."
Quadriplegic inmate Timothy Conn, who was repeatedly behind bars for drug-related misdemeanors, filed the lawsuit in 2001 after not being able to shower by himself while incarcerated.
"He could go for days or weeks without a shower because there was no way for him to get a shower," said Conn's lawyer, Dan Stormer.
When Conn did bathe, several other inmates would have to lift him and his wheelchair over a concrete barrier to get him into the shower, a situation he called humiliating.
Collins also ordered the department to train deputies on accommodating wheelchair-bound inmates and to provide access to in-custody programs to disabled inmates.
The cost of the modifications has not been calculated, but several of the changes have been included in other planned jail-construction projects, Nighswonger said.
The Sheriff's Department has managed to weather tough economic times, cutting $53 million from its budget over the past two years, saving $25 million in overtime costs and negotiating multimillion dollar contracts to house prisoners for the U.S. Marshals and immigration detainees in Orange County jails. But the state budget passed by the Senate Tuesday threatens to hit the county – and its Sheriff's Department – hard.
It remains unclear how the remaining mandated changes to the jails will be funded.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/county-306440-make-court.html
Court rules against O.C. in jails disability suit
By KIMBERLY EDDS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
714-796-7829 or kedds@ocregister.com
A federal judge has ordered Orange County to make its jails accessible to disabled inmates and bring its facilities into compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, capping a 10-year legal battle.
U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins appointed a monitor to work with the Sheriff's Department to ensure the ordered changes, including modifying cells, installing grab bars for toilets and showers and adding wheelchair ramps, are made. The Sheriff's Department has been working with the court over the last decade to come up with a plan to modify the facilities, and many of the mandated changes were part of the Sheriff's Department plan, Capt. Dave Nighswonger said.
The department has begun working on some of the easier fixes, such as installing grab bars, but other mandated changes will require an architect to bring the county's aging jail facilities into compliance, Nighswonger said. Those projects could take more than a year to complete, he said.
"Now we have a concrete plan to go forward and make changes," he said. "We're at a good stage."
Quadriplegic inmate Timothy Conn, who was repeatedly behind bars for drug-related misdemeanors, filed the lawsuit in 2001 after not being able to shower by himself while incarcerated.
"He could go for days or weeks without a shower because there was no way for him to get a shower," said Conn's lawyer, Dan Stormer.
When Conn did bathe, several other inmates would have to lift him and his wheelchair over a concrete barrier to get him into the shower, a situation he called humiliating.
Collins also ordered the department to train deputies on accommodating wheelchair-bound inmates and to provide access to in-custody programs to disabled inmates.
The cost of the modifications has not been calculated, but several of the changes have been included in other planned jail-construction projects, Nighswonger said.
The Sheriff's Department has managed to weather tough economic times, cutting $53 million from its budget over the past two years, saving $25 million in overtime costs and negotiating multimillion dollar contracts to house prisoners for the U.S. Marshals and immigration detainees in Orange County jails. But the state budget passed by the Senate Tuesday threatens to hit the county – and its Sheriff's Department – hard.
It remains unclear how the remaining mandated changes to the jails will be funded.