Unsanitary Prison Kitchen May Be Cruel and Unusual

An Illinois inmate may proceed with his claim that unsanitary prison conditions constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment, a federal appeals court said.

Mark Byrd, who worked in the inmate kitchen of the Pontiac Correctional Center in Illinois, claims he saw a cockroach infestation, mice droppings on milk cartons, and other unsanitary conditions.

The district court wrongly granted summary judgment for the prison officials, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit said in a nonprecedential ruling.

Byrd claims he saw cockroaches everywhere in the kitchen, including on serving trays, and that milk ...