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71 Prison J. 1 (1991)

handle is hein.journals/prsjrnl71 and id is 1 raw text is: Judicial Intervention in Local Jails II: An Editorial Overview M. Kay Harris* This issue represents the second of two back-to-back issues of the Prison Journal devoted to the topic of jail litigation. Judicial intervention in the operation of prisons and jails as a result of findings of illegal conditions and practices has been widespread over the last two decades. Just as has been true with respect to school desegregation, legisla- tive redistricting, and other civil rights issues, the role of the courts in ordering signifi- cant changes in correctional policy and practice and .in monitoring and enforcing compliance has engendered tremendous controversy and high emotions. Yet remarkably little is known about the course and effects of such litigation beyond the personal knowledge of those who have been involved in one way or another in various cases. This is especially true for cases focused on local jails; while the literature on judicial interven- tion in correctional settings has been increasing in recent years, most studies have focused on cases involving state prison systems (see, e.g., Martin and Ekland-Olson 1987; Yackle 1990). These two Prison Journal issues are intended to expand the base of understanding about litigation concerning local jails and to stimulate additional inquiry and debate on issues and strategies for the future. Back in the early 1970s when I was involved in doing case study research on jail litigation, I often had the feeling that I was engaged in detective work. (Harris and Spiller 1977). My initial understanding about what had occurred in a given case, and about why and how, shifted as I moved from interviewing the attorneys who represented the prisoner plaintiffs to the defendant correctional and other public officials involved, and on down the line of interested actors. It was quite clear that the story of each case would be told differently by key players with varying positions and perspectives on the litigation. In working to put together a set of articles on jail litigation, I kept clearly in mind my own sense of the importance of who is telling the story and the way in which they choose to lay it out. In an overview for the first issue, I attempted both to provide brief descriptions of the content and approach of each article in the two-issue set and to identify at least some of the major issues that the articles taken together raise. (Harris 1991). That Prison Journal issue also includes a background article by Russ Immarigeon that not only defines jails, but also reviews the major problems and reform recommendations that have been advanced by those studying jail operations and problems. In addition, an article by Cathryn Rosen explores how jail law might be expected to differ from prison law and the extent to which the courts have recognized potentially relevant differences. The remainder of the first issue in this two-part set includes four case studies of long-standing jail litigation cases. Each of these cases has been the subject of at least one earlier article, study or report, which allows a review of experience over time. The first three case studies revisit jails in which judicial decree implementation studies and impact analyses were conducted for an American Bar Association (ABA) project some fifteen years ago. (Harris and Spiller 1977). The last one builds on an article by David Rudovsky on the ongoing state court case on conditions of confinement in Philadelphia *M. Kay Harris, who is guest editor of this issue and the previous one, is associate professor, Department of Criminal Justice, Temple University, Philadelphia. -1-

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