Battles Over Jail Nearing End, Both Sides Agree

The American Civil Liberties Union, which has led the court fight to reduce overcrowding at the Orange County Jail, won some small victories Tuesday in a hearing on jail conditions in U.S. District Judge William P. Gray’s courtroom.

However, both the ACLU and county officials agree that the long-running courtroom battles between them over the past 15 months are all but ended.

“As far as we’re concerned, this is it,” said ACLU attorney Richard Herman, referring to Tuesday’s hearing. “The jail officials have done a pretty good job, under pressure from us.”

Gray agreed to some requests, but did not give the ACLU everything it wanted during the hearing.

Ruling on Books

He ordered jail officials, for example, to put benches in two holding cells where inmates awaiting transfer to the housing unit have had to sit on the floor. He also ordered officials to make a slight modification in their rule that inmates can get hard-back books only if they come directly from the publisher.

The judge also agreed to decide whether to order jail officials to expand inmate access to law books. However, he refused to delve into other issues raised by the ACLU, such as telephone access or attorney visits to the jail.

“Unless a constitutional issue is raised, I am not going to tell the sheriff how to run his jail,” Gray explained.

The judge also agreed to consolidate a civil case brought by convicted killer Willie Wisely over inmate rights with the ACLU jail case he has been hearing during the past 15 months. But he warned the ACLU not to read too much into that move, because he said he did not consider that the Wisely case raised significant new issues.

Concerned About Contraband

Jail Commander Wyatt Hart told the judge Tuesday that inmates can slip in contraband in a hard-back book’s binding, or even thin pieces of wire which can cut through jail bars. The only way to reduce that risk, Hart said, was to have books sent directly from the publisher.

But Hart agreed that it would not be a serious problem to allow inmates known to be free of narcotics to have access to hardbacks through the mail, as long as they can show good cause for needing those books.

Deputy County Counsel Edward N. Duran called Tuesday’s proceedings the resolution of “loose ends” and predicted that the jail issue would not come back for a hearing in Gray’s courtroom in the fall. At that time, Lawrence G. Grossman, the special master appointed by Gray to monitor conditions at the County Jail, is expected to make a recommendation on Gray’s intention to set a 1,400-inmate ceiling on the main men’s jail.

Last year, Gray ordered a 1,500-inmate ceiling to begin Jan. 15, 1986, and a 1,400-inmate ceiling to begin May 1. But he modified the May 1 order at Grossman’s recommendation to permit 1,450 on the weekends and 1,500 for three-day weekends, such as Memorial Day.

Gray said when he modified his order last month, however, that he would not be inclined to permit anything above 1,400 after the summer was over.

Sheriff Brad Gates had written to the Board of Supervisors two weeks ago, warning them that he might not be able to comply with Gray’s 1,400-bed order by the end of the year unless the county gives him another 300 beds.