Crain v. Bordenkircher, 16646
| Decision Date | 24 March 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 16646,16646 |
| Citation | 193 W.Va. 362,456 S.E.2d 206 |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | Robert Carl CRAIN, et al., Petitioners Below, Appellants, v. Donald E. BORDENKIRCHER, Warden, West Virginia Penitentiary, et al., Respondents Below, Appellees. |
Syllabus by the Court
"This Court has a duty to take such actions as are necessary to protect and guard the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of West Virginia." Syllabus Point 2, Crain v. Bordenkircher, 180 W.Va. 246, 376 S.E.2d 140 (1988).
James F. Companion, Schrader, Recht, Byrd, Companion & Gurley, Wheeling, Barbara L. Baxter, W. Va. Legal Services Plan, Inc., Wheeling, for appellants.
Rita A. Stuart, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., W. Va. Div. of Corrections, Charleston, for appellees.
In our most recent opinion of Crain v. Bordenkircher, 192 W.Va. 416, 452 S.E.2d 732 (1994), we directed the respondents, Donald E. Bordenkircher, Warden, West Virginia Penitentiary, et al., to appear before this Court on March 7, 1995, to present a status report. On March 3, 1995, the respondents filed a status report which sets forth the progress of the relocation of inmates from the West Virginia Penitentiary at Moundsville (WVP) to the new State penitentiary, the Mount Olive Correctional Complex (MOCC). From the time this Court outlined the atrocious conditions at the WVP in Crain v. Bordenkircher, 176 W.Va. 338, 342 S.E.2d 422 (1986), we have monitored the construction of the new penitentiary. 1 We cite Syllabus Point 2 of Crain v. Bordenkircher, 180 W.Va. 246, 376 S.E.2d 140 (1988), for our ongoing jurisdiction over this case:
"This Court has a duty to take such actions as are necessary to protect and guard the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of West Virginia."
At the hearing on March 7, 1995, and in the written status report, the respondents advised this Court as follows. The construction of the MOCC is complete, and the transfer of inmates from the WVP began on February 14, 1995. Approximately 215 men, which constitutes half of the inmates, have been transferred to the MOCC and the following sections of the WVP are now closed: "the Protective Custody Unit, the receiving unit, the old man's colony, one-half of new wall and part of North Hall." The respondents assured this Court that the transfer of all inmates should be completed on or before April 3, 1995. This Court was further advised that the Special Master and counsel for both parties met on December 20, 1994, and reached agreement on all remaining operational procedures.
We are pleased to be informed that the MOCC "is open and operating smoothly." The food service and medical service at the MOCC are in operation. Furthermore, inmates at the MOCC are able to take advantage of the "education, counselling, alcohol and drug therapy, religion, recreation, law library and general library programs[.]" However, this...
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Neuman, In re, 95-8097
...and the transfer of inmates from Moundsville to MOCC began on February 14, 1995, to be completed by April 3, 1995. Crain v. Bordenkircher, 456 S.E.2d 206 (W.Va.1995). In his Petition, Neuman contends that he lived under unconstitutional conditions at Moundsville from 1986-1990. He seeks an ......