Jones v. Goord

OPINION AND ORDER

LYNCH, District Judge.

In this class action, plaintiffs challenge New York State’s administration of a program for double-celling in its maximum-security prisons. Double-celling is a practice in which two prisoners are housed in a cell originally designed for one person. Plaintiffs claim that defendants’ practice of double-celling some New York inmates violates the First and Eighth Amendments. With respect to plaintiffs’ Eighth Amendment claims, it is clearly established that double-celling, even in maximum security prisons, does not in itself constitute cruel and unusual…