Isabella County jail inmates are spending more time outside their cells these days.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued Isabella County after receiving complaints that inmates were not allowed exercise time outside their cells.
Daniel Manville is the director the Michigan State University law school's Civil Rights Clinic. He says jail officials were willing to reach an out-of-court settlement. Manville says many county jails in Michigan are in a similar position because of inmate overcrowding and budget cuts.
“It’s my understanding that there's a few other jails that are under litigation,” says Manville. “We’ve even started talking to a couple jails about making changes, and they are willing to sit down even before we file a lawsuit and we may even be able to resolve it without a lawsuit.”
As part of the Isabella County jail settlement, inmates will have access to an exercise room for an hour a day five days a week.
