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June 05, 2006

Maybe Major Dad and His Brother

...could have filed a lawsuit, had they known how cruel and unusual it was.

Judge Dismisses Double-Bunking Lawsuit
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging the state prison system's practice of putting two inmates in cells designed for one, saying the double-bunking does not violate the U.S. Constitution.

The lawsuit, first filed in 1995, claimed that the practice violated the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Inmates at 13 maximum-security prisons argued that they were more likely to be assaulted, faced higher chances of catching a disease and suffered harsh living conditions.

But U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch, in a decision dated May 26, said that simply putting two convicts in a cell designed for one "is a far cry from the `wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain' against which the Eighth Amendment protects."

"Plaintiffs' claims that double-celling subjects them to `the stench of a cell mate's feces and flatulence' ignore the fact that even in a single cell, an inmate would be subjected to the `stench' of his own `feces and flatulence,'" Lynch wrote.

"Feces and flatulence"? That would cover any gathering of Marines. As well as Bingley (having to bunk with his less civilized older brother, Mountain Man, who is inherently dangerous, even now) so he, too, could have laid a legal whammy on our folks. The common thread here is all the law abiding average citizens who've been forced to share a room with virtual strangers (as older/younger siblings can be) and exposed to noxious manners/fumes who have still managed to survive, but a prisoner rates his own digs? Not.

In the interest of full disclosure, I never had to share a room as a child. I was special. But I can feel their pain, empath that I am.

Posted by tree hugging sister at June 5, 2006 04:18 PM

Comments

Posted by: The_Real_JeffS at June 5, 2006 06:08 PM