By Dan McKay
Albuquerque Journal
NEW MEXICO — After 14 years of litigation, it might be time to start over.
Chief U.S. District Judge Martha Vázquez has withdrawn her approval of settlements governing conditions in the Bernalillo County jail system.
The settlement agreements adopted in 2005 had outlined a path for the county to end the litigation, much of which focuses on crowded conditions. They required the county to meet certain standards, as judged by auditors. Once each standard was met, the lawsuit would be dismissed.
But the future of the 1995 lawsuit is now unclear. In rescinding her approval of the settlements, Vázquez also indicated she will allow the inmate attorneys to inspect conditions inside a second county jail, the Downtown lockup that now houses federal detainees.
That means the lawsuit may actually grow broader, not move closer to dismissal.
“We have an open invitation to the defendants to sit down and brainstorm a resolution to the case that benefits everyone involved,” said Marc Lowry, an attorney representing inmates.
County officials weren’t available for comment late Tuesday.
The case centers on whether local inmates are housed under inhumane conditions that violate their constitutional rights.
The massive Metropolitan Detention Center that opened in 2003 on the West Side was designed to hold 2,236 inmates, but the population has sometimes climbed above 2,400, even reaching 2,900 inmates.
The settlement approved by the court in 2005 applied only to inmates at the main West Side jail. But the county has a contract to house federal detainees at another jail, the Regional Correctional Center in Downtown Albuquerque. A private company operates that lockup for the county.
The inmate attorneys say they never would have agreed to the earlier settlements if they had known the extent of the county’s involvement in the Downtown jail. They want access to the Downtown jail to ensure inmates there are treated humanely.
Vázquez, in her 22-page order, said the county failed to properly disclose its role in the Downtown jail. That’s why she rescinded her approval of the settlement agreements.
The judge also indicated she will allow the inmate attorneys to visit people housed in the Downtown jail. She “granted in part” their motions to do so.
Copyright 2009 Albuquerque Journal