Judge Calls Toledo Jail "Cruel and Unusual"

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MARCH 2, 1971 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

JUDGE CALLS TOLEDO JAIL 

"CRUEL AND UNUSUAL" 

TOLEDO, OHIO--In a landmark decision, which declared conditions 

at the Lucas County Jail (Toledo, Ohio) to be "cruel and unusual 

punishment" ... "a refined sort (of punishment), much more comparable 

to the Chinese water torture than to such crudities as breaking on 

the wheel," as well as an unconstitutional punishment before 

conviction of awaiting trial prisoners, a U. S. Disctict Judge has 

ordered hearings to determine what short and long-term relief must 

be granted to the inmates of that jail. 

Announcement of the decision was made today by NAACP Legal 

Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) attorneys who, together 

with Advocate for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE), brought this class 

action on behalf of all inmates of the Lucas County jail against 

Lucas County and Toledo officials. This case is but one of more 

than a dozen of similar suits being waged in federal courts throughout 

the country as part of the LDF's litigation program of prosecuting 

cases and seeking to set precedents in the area of poverty law and 

prisoners' rights, which would have the effect of providing relief 

for masses of indigents, and especially black people, who are 

presently being denied their basic Constitutional rights both in and 

out of penal institutions. 

During the two-day trial, which took place during the early 

part of February, counsel for the inmates claimed that while conditioss ty} 

at the prison are unconstitutional and deplorable for all inmates, 

an unforgivable and irreparable crime is being perpetrated against \4 

(more) 

NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. | 10 Columbus Circle | New York, N.Y. 10019 | (212) 586-8397 

William T. Coleman, Jr. - President Jack Greenberg - Director-Counsel 



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those who are confined at the prison to await trial simply because 

they are too poor to post bail. They also pointed out that the 

onerous conditions of pre-trial confinement adversely affected the 

inmates' ability to receive a fair trial, and therefore, added insult 

to injury. 

These inmates, according to law and the centuries old fundamental 

presumption of innocence, recognized even by Blackstone, must be 

accorded all privileges possible, and retain all the rights of an 

ordinary citizen, except those absolutely necessary for the purpose 

of confinement. Yet, in researching case after case, LDF attorneys 

say they have found gross and near unanimous abuses of the law by 

prison officials throughout the country. 

In obvious indignation, Judge Young described the Toledo prison 

as "a local jail at (its) worst," .-. "When the total picture of 

confinement in the Lucas County jail is examined, what appears is 

confinement in cramped and overcrowded quarters, lightless, airless, 

damp, and filthy with leaking water and human wastes, slow starvation, 

deprivation of most human contacts, except with others in the same 

subhuman state, no exercise or recreation, little if any medical 

attention, no attempt at rehabilitation, and for those who in despair 

or frustration lash out at their surroundings, confinement, stripped 

of clothing and every last vestige of humanity, in a sort of 

oubliette," (hidden dungeon). 

Representatives of the Board of Commissioners and sheriff of 

Lucas County -- two main defendants in the suit -- as well as 

attorneys for the inmates will soon be reappearing before Judge Young 

in order to determine how the situation can most effectively be 

corrected. 

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