Pretrial Detention and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments

It is in the intent of the writer of this paper to examine the conditions endured by indigent defendants through their pretrial detention in Cuyahoga County Jail with respect to the Constitutional prohibitions of "cruel and unusual" punishment and a denial of "equal protection of the laws." Cuyahoga County is better known as Cleveland, Ohio. Expediency requires that the important concept of the rights of indigent inmates as they relate to civil rights statutes, and particularly Title 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, not be considered here. It may be hoped, however, that the propositions and legal considerations put forth in this paper will lead logically to an in-depth consideration of this area as well as in some future article.