Crain v. Bordenkircher

This proceeding was instituted in 1981 by inmates at the West Virginia Penitentiary, who contended that their confinement in that penitentiary constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and Article III, § 5 of the West Virginia Constitution. It has been subject of a series of opinions and orders outlined in Crain v. Bordenkircher, 182 W.Va. 787, 392 S.E.2d 227 (1990).

In the early stages of the proceedings, the Court concluded that confinement in the existing penitentiary at Moundsville constituted cruel and unusual…