They are among those who had followed President Jimmy Carter's offer of asylum to Cubans seeking relief from the Fidel Castro regime. Castro refuses to let them return, and only a few have been allowed into American society. The Atlanta prison has become extremely overcrowded; eight men are kept in quarters designed for four. Anger and tension are high, especially since a November 1984 riot in which 50 Cuban prisoners captured a cellblock and held it for six hours. A jury not only acquitted the two prisoners charged with starting the riot, but also ridiculed prison conditions. Some of the Cubans are dangerous and should never be released from prison, but the vast majority are merely caught in a bureaucratic nightmare. Yet, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the government has broad authority to hold the Cubans indefinitely.