Judging from inspections, county records and news stories, the condition of jails was a recurring issue from the formation of Indiana counties to the present day. In this case, decided on appeal from the Switzerland Circuit Court, the Indiana Supreme Court upheld the ruling that a county cannot be held liable for failing to keep a jail in a healthy and inhabitable condition.
Reports Of Cases Argued and Determined Supreme Court of Judicature State of Indiana, Vol. 131,Containing Cases Decided at the November Term,1891. Indianapolis: The Bowen-Merrill Co.
From the Switzerland Circuit Court. F. M. Griffith, for appellant.6. S. Pleasants, for appellee.
Morris v. The Board of Commissioners of Switzerland County.
The appellant was confined in the jail of Switzerland county from the 10th day of December, 1887, to the 10th day of December, 1888, by an order of the Switzerland Circuit Court, in pursuance of a judgment of said court on a charge of bastardy, and he brings this action for damages alleged to have been sustained by him on account of the condition of the jail, alleged to have become and to have remained out of repair on account of the failure and neglect of the board of commissioners of said county to put and keep it in repair, as is made their duty by statute; that said jail was badly ventilated, damp, dark and filled with impure and obnoxious air and gases, alleging in detail facts which made the jail unhealthy, and that the impure and unwholesome gases and odors escaping from the same had caused sickness in the neighborhood and in the family of the jailer.
Filed April 28,1892.
No comments:
Post a Comment