Pack the Court Rally!
Oct 28, 10 am
BC Courthouse
92 Court St
Open the Doors of the Jail!
Join JUST as we meet to hold Sheriff Harder in civil and criminal contempt of court as he defies our winning lawsuit: on Oct 28th at 10 am we will rally on the steps of the County courthouse at 92 Court St and proceed to pack the court for the contempt hearings (the court facing the Court St traffic circle, NOT the Hawley St county courthouse).
Why?
In May JUST and families of the incarcerated filed charges against the Sheriff and County, demanding they reopen visitation at the county jail. Harder and the County resisted visitation despite the fact visitation has long returned to all state prisons, county nursing homes, and jails around the state. Families had not been allowed to visit their loved in over two years.
Having lost the lawsuit to keep the doors of the jail locked, the Sheriff backed by County lawyers now defies the court ruling to reopen according to the pre-covid visiting schedule. He has unilaterally reduced visitation from over 40 hours, 5 days a week to a bare 15 hours/3 days. For many of our folks, especially distant family members, this means no or very rare visits to their sons, daughters, partners, and close friends. The Sheriff’s and County’s brazenness apparently knows no bounds.
In the face of this defiance, JUST has filed civil and criminal contempt of court charges against the Sheriff, with the assistance of Josh Cotter of Legal Services of Central NY. At stake is the ability of family members to finally, fully, visit their loved ones.
Let the Love In!
We look forward to this hearing and yet another, hopefully final, ruling against the Sheriff and County. But popular pressure is needed. Turn out to rally and pack the court with us.
To repeat: we will hold a rally on the court house steps on Oct 28th at 10 am and then send people in to pack the 11 am court hearing (clearing metal detectors may take some time, thus the early start).
Court documents and further information may be found on our website www.justicest.com ).