The law is clear that when a prisoner has completed their sentence, the jail or prison that has been holding them is required to release them. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. When the jail or prison does not release them, it is known as overdetention. Read on to find out what the legal remedies are for this situation. If you need personalized advice from a criminal defense attorney, contact Law Office of Michael L. Fell at (949) 585-9055 for a free legal consultation.

The potential remedies for overdetention in California

If the inmate has still not been released then your attorney may need to petition a judge to order the jail or prison to release the person in custody. Once that has been done, then there may be grounds for a civil lawsuit to sue for monetary damages.

There are many legal theories that prevent overdetention

There is not a specific law that prevents overdetention but there are a number of laws under which this crime can fall. for example, all of the following are illegal in California:

• Wrongful detention in violation of the state constitution and civil code
• False imprisonment
• Deprivation of federal civil rights
• Breach of mandatory duty under government code

Your attorney can assess the unique situation in question to offer the best remedy.

Potential damages for overdetention

The potential damages for which a person can see compensation will vary based on a variety of factors. For example, the damages will depend on whether the overdetention was an oversight or was intentional, whether the jail or prison that held the inmate in question has a history of doing so to other inmates, and what specific legal theories are being used to determine damages.

Generally speaking, the plaintiff is likely to sue for compensatory damages, which can also include what are known as noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering. It may be possible to also recover punitive damages, which are meant to punish the guilty party, if the violation was grossly negligent or can be proven intentional.

Examples of previous cases

In 2002 there was a class-action settlement for overdetention in the amount of $27 million. This affected as many as 400,000 prisoners who were kept in L.A. county Jail for one or two days past their release date. Though many hundreds of thousands of prisoners were affected, just over 36,000 submitted claims and the amount they were paid depended on how long they were in detention, and whether they had been subject to a strip search. The maximum they received was $5,000 with potential bonuses of up to $31,000.

Call a criminal defense attorney now if a loved one is subject to overdetention

Though you may eventually have civil recourse to these cases, the first step is to get the inmate out of jail or prison. The best way to do that is to contact Law Office of Michael L. Fell at (949) 585-9055 for a free legal consultation.