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RUFO v. INMATES OF SUFFOLK COUNTY JAIL Opinion of the Court
477 N. E. 2d 361 (1985). Thereupon, plaintiff prisoners, with the support of the sheriff, moved the District Court to modify the decree to provide a facility with 435 cells. Citing “the unanticipated increase in jail population and the delay in completing the jail,” the District Court modified the decree to permit the capacity of the new jail to be increased in any amount, provided that: “(a) single-cell occupancy is maintained under the design for the facility; “(b) under the standards and specifications of the Architectural Program, as modified, the relative proportion of cell space to support services will remain the same as it was in the Architectural Program; “(c) any modifications are incorporated into new architectural plans; “(d) defendants act without delay and take all steps reasonably necessary to carry out the provisions of the Consent Decree according to the authorized schedule.” Inmates of Suffolk County Jail v. Kearney, Civ. Action No. 71–162–G (Mass., Apr. 11, 1985), App. 110, 111. The number of cells was later increased to 453. Construction started in 1987. In July 1989, while the new jail was still under construction, the sheriff moved to modify the consent decree to allow the double bunking of male detainees in 197 cells, thereby raising the capacity of the new jail to 610 male detainees. The sheriff argued that changes in law and in fact required the modification. The asserted change in law was this Court’s 1979 decision in Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U. S. 520 (1979), handed down one week after the consent decree was approved by the District Court. The asserted change in fact was the increase in the population of pretrial detainees. The District Court refused to grant the requested modification, holding that the sheriff had failed to meet the standard of United States v. Swift & Co., 286 U. S. 106, 119 (1932):
