A federal appeals court has revived an Oklahoma prison inmate's lawsuit that alleges overcrowding and understaffing at state prison facilities has created dangerous conditions for inmates and inadequate sanitation, laundry and other services.
Tuesday's decision by a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstates a lawsuit filed by 53-year-old Kent Savage, an inmate at the medium-security James Crabtree Correctional Center in Helena, against Gov. Mary Fallin and state prison officials. The lawsuit was previously dismissed by a federal district judge in Oklahoma City.
The lawsuit alleges Fallin and prison officials have "acted with deliberate indifference" to prison overcrowding issues that have led to prison violence and placed the safety of inmates at "substantial risk."
Fallin spokesman Michael McNutt says she does not comment on pending litigation.