Adams v. Corrections Corp. of America
| Decision Date | 29 May 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 07CA0681.,07CA0681. |
| Citation | 187 P.3d 1190 |
| Parties | Vance A. ADAMS, Shane L. Allen, Richard A. Allison, Sean Andrews, Edward Armijo, Isaac Banks, Oscar Barron, Kenneth Batts, John Bowen, Harold Brantley, Neil G. Breaman, Roy D. Buck, Ronald Buzzard, Jr., Augustine S. Cabral, Clinton T. Caldwell, Patrick Calf Robe, Israel Chavez, Brandon Lee Clary, Robin B. Combs, Sr., David Cooper, Joseph Decker, Robert Dermates, Daniel Diaz, Phillip Dixon, Justin Dougherty, Wesley Fair, Jose Fernandez, Thomas G. Gallegos, Anthony Garza, Roy Gibbens, Oliver Giller, Donald Gilliland, Jeff Gillis, Zelo Goings, Mwamba H. Goma, Delfino Gonzales, Richard Gonzales, Erwin P. Greer, James Hackett, Bruce Hatfield, Rodney J. Harris, Billy Hendrix, Jeff Howard, Warren N. Johnson, Billy Lee Jones, Douglas Justice, Thomas Kennedy, Joseph Kingsbury, Matt Kulas, Ronald Larkins, Uimaiama Luasiva, James Lawver, Mason LeVee, Mike Lopez, Joseph Lujan, Kenneth Mackey, Rick Maestas, Carlos Rey Martinez, Tommy McClain, Pablo Melendez, Donald Mester, Brian Mills, Daniel Dean Morris, Terry Mowatt, Anh Vu Nguyen, William Osterfoss, Socrates Packer, Stephen D. Peck, Carroll Pollard, Paul I. Pollard, Jr., George L. Ramey, William J. Roper III, Timothy L. Schaaf, Donald C. Scholoff, Jeremy Simmons, Carlos Smith, Rick Smith, Robby Ray Summa, Paul Wade, Chris Watkins, Deon Waynewood, Jerry M. Weir, Tyronne Williams, Christopher J. Wimberly, and David E. Wright, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF AMERICA, a Tennessee corporation; Brent Crouse, Warden, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Bill Bridges, Associate Warden, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Michael Miller, Associate Warden, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Richard Selman, Chief of Security, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Captain Palomino, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Captain Garcia, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Lieutenant Luna, Crowley County Correctional Facility; S.O.R.T. Commander John Jaramillo, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Michael Baca, Huerfano County Correctional Center; Alan Blanco, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Raymond Carroll, Huerfano County Correctional Center; Thomas Crump, Huerfano County Correctional Center; Ely DeJesus, Huerfano County Correctional Center; H. Galindo, Kit Carson Correctional Center; Donald Garcia, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Robert Griffith, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Chad Kastelic, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Steve Luna, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Paul Pacheco, Huerfano County Correctional Center; John Palomino, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Eddie Rubio, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Brad Schloss, Huerfano County Correctional Center; Adam Vigil, Huerfano County Correctional Center; Lisa Vigil, Huerfano County Correctional Center; Jeff Cordova, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Terry DeVore; Raymond Flores, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Manuel Gonzales, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Earnest Montanez, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Phillip Otero, Crowley County Correctional Facility; Rolando Fernandez, Bent County Correctional Facility; Les Harness, Bent County Correctional Facility; B. King, Bent County Correctional Facility; R. Ordonez, Kit Carson Correctional Center; Scott Pruett, Crowley County Correctional Facility; O.J. Shelden, Bent County Correctional Facility; and James Taylor, Huerfano County Correctional Center, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | Colorado Court of Appeals |
P.L.C., Eileen Dennis GilBride, Phoenix, Arizona, for Defendants-Appellees.
Opinion by Judge VOGT.
Plaintiffs, Vance A. Adams and eighty-four other individuals, were incarcerated in the Crowley County Correctional Facility (CCCF), a private prison housing inmates pursuant to a contract with the Colorado Department of Corrections, at the time of a July 2004 riot at CCCF. They brought this action against defendants, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which owns CCCF, and several CCA employees, alleging that they were not involved in the 2004 riot but nevertheless sustained injuries as a result of defendants' acts and omissions before, during, and after the riot. Plaintiffs sought compensatory and punitive damages on theories of negligence, assault and battery, outrageous conduct, and civil conspiracy. The trial court dismissed the complaint for failure to exhaust administrative remedies pursuant to section 13-17.5-102.3(1), C.R.S.2007, and additionally dismissed the claim for punitive damages as premature. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.
Plaintiffs contend the trial court erred in dismissing their complaint because section 13-17.5-102.3(1) does not require exhaustion of remedies where only common law tort claims are asserted. We agree.
Construction of a statute presents a question of law that we review de novo. People v. Madden, 111 P.3d 452, 457 (Colo. 2005).
Section 13-17.5-102.3(1), states:
No inmate shall bring a civil action based upon prison conditions under any statute or constitutional provision until all available administrative remedies have been exhausted in a timely fashion by the entity operating the detaining facility and inmate. For purposes of this subsection (1), an inmate shall be considered to have exhausted all available administrative remedies when the inmate has completed the last step in the inmate grievance process as set forth in the regulations promulgated by the entity operating the detaining facility. Failure to allege in the civil action that all available administrative remedies have been exhausted in accordance with this subsection (1) shall result in dismissal of the civil action.
(Emphasis added.)
No published opinion has addressed whether this statute, which requires an inmate to exhaust administrative remedies before bringing "a civil action based upon prison conditions under any statute or constitutional provision," also requires exhaustion when claims are brought, not under any statute or constitutional provision, but under the common law. In an unpublished opinion, the federal district court in Colorado rejected CCA's argument that an inmate's negligence claim should be dismissed for failure to comply with section 13-17.5-102.3(1), reasoning: "[B]y its plain language, this provision applies to claims, unlike [the inmate's] state law claims, brought pursuant to a statute or constitutional provision." Wallin v. Alfaro, 2005 WL 2125224 (D.Colo. No. Civ.A03CV00281WDMMJW, Sept. 2, 2005). In the only published case to have construed the statute, Glover v. State, 129 P.3d 1083 (Colo.App.2005), a division of this court upheld the dismissal, under section 13-17.5-102.3(1), of an inmate's complaint asserting both a statutory violation and conspiracy to commit various crimes, but it did not address the issue presented here.
We therefore construe the statute according to well-established principles governing statutory interpretation. Our primary task in construing a statute is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the General Assembly. To do so, we look first to the language of the statute, giving the words and phrases their plain and ordinary meaning. If that meaning is clear, we must give full effect to the words chosen, as it is presumed that the General Assembly meant what it clearly said. Ceja v. Lemire, 154 P.3d 1064, 1066 (Colo.2007); State v. Nieto, 993 P.2d 493, 500 (Colo.2000).
Section 13-17.5-102.3(1) requires exhaustion in civil actions brought "under any statute or constitutional provision." Giving the words used by the General Assembly their plain and ordinary meaning, it is clear that that phrase does not encompass civil actions brought under the common law. See Black's Law Dictionary 293 (8th ed.2004) (defining "common law" as the "body of law derived from judicial decisions, rather than from statutes or constitutions").
We may not presume that the General Assembly's omission of "common law" from the phrase "under any statute or constitutional provision" was unintentional. See Brooke v. Restaurant Services, Inc., 906 P.2d 66, 70-71 (Colo.1995) (); see also Auman v. People, 109 P.3d 647, 656-57 (Colo. 2005) (); Beeghly v. Mack, 20 P.3d 610, 613 (Colo.2001) (); People v. J.J.H., 17 P.3d 159, 162 (Colo.2001) ().
Accordingly, we conclude that section 13-17.5-102.3(1) does not, by its plain language, require exhaustion of administrative remedies before bringing a civil action based on prison conditions when such action consists only of claims brought under the common law.
Defendants advance several arguments supporting their contention that section 13-17.5-102.3(1) should nevertheless be read as barring the claims asserted here. In assessing defendants' contentions, we may consider the statute's legislative history...
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