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New York Jail Overcrowding Unconstitutional
Loaded on Sept. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
September, 1997, page 14
A federal district court in New York held that overcrowding in the Erie County jail violated the eighth amendment rights of convicted prisoners and the fourteenth amendment rights of pretrial detainees housed in the jail. Bernard Zolnowski, a pretrial detainee, filed suit challenging jail conditions. The suit was then converted …
Filed under:
Conditions of Confinement,
Totality of Conditions,
Overcrowding,
Ventilation,
Toilets,
Sanitation,
Jail Specific,
Laundry,
Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's.
Location:
New York.
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More from this issue:
- U.S. Supreme Court: No Immunity for Private Prisons, by Paul Wright
- ADA Applies to State Prisons
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics (Consent Decrees), by John Midgley
- Second Circuit Affirms IFP Provisions
- Sixth Circuit Explains PLRA Again
- PLRA Applies to Juveniles, Retroactive on Attorney Fees
- PLRA Forbids Dismissal of Suits Without Paid Fees
- Gun Law Threatens Police, Military, Prisons
- A Matter of Fact
- BOP Mutiny Convictions Affirmed
- Vacant Judgeships Cripple Federal Judiciary, by Dan Pens
- DC Women Prisoners' Suit Reversed
- Alabama Phone System Upheld
- Pepper Spray too Dangerous for DOC Training?
- Former Mississippi Guards Lose Sentencing Appeal
- Disciplinary Segregation Can Create Liberty Interest
- New York Jail Overcrowding Unconstitutional
- Prisoners Held Beyond Release Date Sue
- Montana Paying for 1991 Prison Uprising
- Supreme Court Strikes Down RFRA as Unconstitutional
- Attorney Fee Award in Nominal Damage Case Affirmed
- Detainee Awarded $64,000 in Guard Attack
- Farmer Loses at Jury Trial
- Iowa Grievance Retaliation Suit Set for Trial
- Indiana ADA Verdict Affirmed
- Fact Finding of Segregation Conditions Required in Disciplinary Suit
- Failure to Remove Sutures States Claim
- Nebraska Women's Court Access Case Reversed
- Consent Decrees Enforceable on Its Own Terms
- Jail Assault Requires Trial
- Reliable Evidence Required at Disciplinary Hearing
- Court Reduces Jury Award in Beating Suit
- Sandin Analyzed for New York Prisoners
- News in Brief
- New Jersey Prisoners Have Liberty Interest in Parole
- No Right to TV or Radio
More from these topics:
- ACLU Threatens New Lawsuit After Indiana County’s Repeated Failures to Abide by 17-Year-Old Settlement Agreement, May 1, 2026. Overcrowding, Exercise, Sanitation, Bedding, Settlements.
- Atlanta Jail Boasts Improvements Since Consent Decree, Reports from Monitor and ACLU Are More Critical, May 1, 2026. Staffing, Sanitation, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Consent Decrees, Bail/Pretrial Release.
- Pregnant Women Detained in Jail: The Hideous Story of In-Custody Births, May 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, OB/GYN, Failure to Treat, Jail Specific, Medical Neglect/Malpractice.
- $9.8 Million in Settlements Reached with South Carolina County and Wellpath in Gruesome Jail Death, May 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Sanitation, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Deliberate Indifference.
- New York Juvenile Detention Officials Sued for Abusing Adolescents with Solitary Confinement, May 1, 2026. Sanitation, Lockdowns, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Juvenile Prisons, Confinement in Segregated Housing.
- New Hampshire Officials Halt $700 Million Prison Replacement, May 1, 2026. Cost of Prison Systems, Totality of Conditions, Plumbing, Sanitation, Vermin.
- Faced with Record-Breaking Jail Deaths, L.A. County Supervisors Tell Sheriff’s Department to Improve Access to Naloxone, Camera Monitoring, and Security Checks at California Jail, May 1, 2026. Drug Overdose, Overcrowding, Sanitation, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Pennsylvania Closes Its Second-Oldest Prison, May 1, 2026. Cost of Prison Systems, Totality of Conditions, Boot Camps, Plumbing, Reduction of Prison Population.
- Oklahoma DOC Paid Prison Guards $35.5 Million in Overtime in 2025, May 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Cost of Prison Systems, Totality of Conditions, Staffing, Staff Training.
- Trump Wants $152 Million to Turn Alcatraz Back Into a Prison, May 1, 2026. Cost of Prison Systems, Totality of Conditions, Federal Legislation, Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

