May 9 hearing is set in prison virus case

LITTLE ROCK — A federal judge said Friday she’ll hear arguments May 9 in a class-action lawsuit seeking the release of elderly and medically frail inmates in state prisons, and safer accommodations for other prisoners, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of inmates at the Cummins, Varner and Ouachita River units of the Arkansas Department of Corrections. It alleges that prison officials have violated inmates’ rights by forcing them to live together — less than 6 feet apart — in crowded barracks without soap or other products to fight the spread of the virus.

The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. in the Little Rock courtroom of U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker with attorneys and any witnesses participating by video or audio teleconference. The public will be free to attend at the courthouse, where covid-19 protective measures, including social distancing, will be enforced.

The plaintiffs want to present testimony, while the state has asked that Baker make a ruling on an emergency temporary restraining order based on arguments alone. Baker hasn’t decided yet whether to allow testimony, but said she will confer with attorneys in a public phone conference before the hearing.

She also set deadlines for the state to respond in writing to the lawsuit and the plaintiffs to reply.

“The Court is concerned that the State of Arkansas’s resources remain focused on the covid-19 threat but seeks to balance that concern with plaintiffs’ request to present evidence at the hearing in support of their motion,” she said.

She directed attorneys on both sides to meet in advance of her telephone conference to try to work out details related to testimony and the presentation of exhibits.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge have said, in response to the lawsuit, that prison and health officials are taking effective measures to protect inmates.