Federal Appeals Court In Philadelphia Makes Ruling Involving Prisoners And Solitary Confinement
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A federal appeals court in Philadelphia has ruled that prisons in Pennsylvania can no longer keep inmates in solitary confinement, if their death sentences have changed.
Civil rights litigator David Rudovsky, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, said the decision by the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals affects death-row inmates whose capital sentences were vacated.:
"It is impermissible, a violation of the constitution, and due process."
He said there are a significant number of inmates convicted of capital crimes who eventually see their cases overturned, awaiting new trials or the penalty phase.
But, he said, state prisons kept them locked in solitary, even through they were no longer awaiting execution.
"Since they were convicted once of a capital crime, we could keep them on death row, without any individual review of their cases, to see if the security needs really demand that."
Rudovsky said at that point, advocates for inmates contended that they are "presumed innocent."
"They're no different than, if they had just been arrested and charged with such a crime. and, if they were, they wouldn't be on death row."
The state Department of Corrections' legal staff is reviewing the ruling. It's looking into the number of inmates who have vacated death sentences awaiting retrial or re sentencing. There are currently 173 people identified as capital case inmates in Pennsylvania.
