The city of Newport Beach filed an amicus brief in support of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department late last week, while Costa Mesa issued its own brief with the same intent.

The briefs come in response to a ruling in a lawsuit by Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson, ordering that the jail population be reduced in response to the coronavirus. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in April.

Wilson ruled Dec. 11 that Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes had shown “deliberate indifference” to the substantial risk that the coronavirus can pose to medically vulnerable people in custody, which in turn violates their constitutional rights.

The judge ordered Barnes to reduce jail populations by 50%, which includes all dormitory- and barracks-style housing. Additionally, the sheriff must provide a release plan by Thursday that identifies all medically at-risk inmates and outline measures to protect those identified whom Barnes does not intend to release or transfer.

Read the full story at LATimes.com.