ACLU Suit Attacks Crowding in Court Holding Cells

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a new federal lawsuit on behalf of Orange County Jail inmates Thursday, claiming that holding cells in the county’s courthouses are dangerous and inhumane because of overcrowded conditions.

A Feb. 2 hearing has been set before U.S. District Judge Irving Hill on an ACLU request for a preliminary injunction that would force county officials to reduce overcrowding in the cells so that each inmate will have a place to sit.

A spokesman for the county marshal’s office, which operates the holding cells, denied Thursday that a problem exists.

“They are not overcrowded,” said Deputy Marshal Donald O. Spears. “We have some holding cells closed down that we could open up if we needed to.”

When County Jail inmates have court appearances, they are taken by bus to the appropriate courthouse--in Santa Ana, Westminster, Fullerton, Newport Beach or Laguna Niguel. There they are housed in holding cells until taken to a courtroom.

The biggest problem is in the main men’s holding cell in the basement of the courthouse in Santa Ana, according to ACLU attorney Richard P. Herman. All male inmates who appear in that courthouse are housed in that basement holding cell first, then are dispersed to other holding cells in the building as the day goes on.

‘Not Only Inhumane, It’s Dangerous’

Herman claims that the holding cell should house no more than 56 inmates. But he filed declarations from several inmates who said it often has more than 120.

Inmates who are required to remain in chains while awaiting a court appearance are at a disadvantage if trouble occurs, Herman said.

“Packing those people in like that is not only inhumane, it’s dangerous,” Herman said.

The ACLU has been fighting county officials in federal court the last two years over crowding at the jail. The lawsuit the organization brought has resulted in a reduction of the main jail population and an increase in county plans for new jail facilities.

Herman filed the new lawsuit against the county and the marshal’s office on behalf of three named inmates--Tom F. Maniscalco, who faces murder charges; Clayton Myer, who faces fraud charges, and Willie Ray Wisely, who has been convicted of first-degree murder and is awaiting sentencing--plus all other inmates. Wisely has been in the County Jail more than five years and has filed numerous lawsuits and motions against judges and county officials over conditions there.

Wisely claims in a declaration filed Thursday that he has seen up to 140 inmates in the basement holding cell at the Santa Ana courthouse.

“People were lying under benches on the filthy, spit-stained concrete floor, “ Wisely stated. “All benches were filled. People were crammed together, standing on every available square foot of floor space.”

Plaintiff Myer stated that because of the overcrowding, “tempers arise and inmates become extremely aggressive.”

But Spears claimed that the general rule is that no more than two busloads--a total of 70 to 80 people--are ever in that holding cell at any one time.

Spears said the marshal’s office has no control over how many inmates are sent over from the jail.

Four of Nine Cells Not in Use

Only five of the nine holding cells in the Santa Ana courthouse are in operation, he said because the marshal’s office does not have the manpower to staff the others. It would take probably another 10 deputies to open up the other four, he said.

Right now, Spears insisted, the inmate population in the holding cells is not high enough to require asking the Board of Supervisors for more staff.