Inmate wins $48 in suit targeting court-date delays
Posted on Tuesday, July 29, 2008
A federal magistrate Monday awarded a former Washington County jail inmate nominal damages after he was illegally detained in 2004.
U. S. Magistrate Judge James Marschewski awarded $ 48 to Steven S. Scott, $ 1 for each day he was in the county jail without an initial appearance before a judge.
Scott was arrested April 7, 2004, and held for 17 days without appearing before a judge. He was arrested again on June 4, 2004, and held for 31 days without going before a judge, according to Monday’s ruling.
The ruling didn’t say why Scott was arrested, but he’s serving 25 years in the state Department of Correction for being an accomplice to arson in Washington County.
In mid-2004, Washington County wasn’t meeting a requirement that guarantees inmates an initial appearance before a judge within 72 hours of their arrest, the lawsuit states.
The county was, however, meeting a requirement that a judge address probable cause and bail for inmates within 48 hours.
Judges were making those determinations from their offices, or in chambers or over the telephone.
The arrangement, however, didn’t meet the “initial appearance” requirement of Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedures, according to the lawsuit.
In late 2004, the county realized it wasn’t meeting the initial appearance requirement after a decision by the 8 th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It upheld a $ 95, 000 judgment to an inmate who spent 38 days in a Conway jail before seeing a judge.
In response, Washington County changed its policy to meet the initial appearance rule, the ruling states.
The county holds initial-appearance hearings for inmates three times a week — on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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