West v. Macht

• Decision Date: 03 December 2002
• Docket Number: No. 99-C-0147.,99-C-0147.
• Citation: 235 F.Supp.2d 966
• Parties: Edwin C. WEST, Dennis Thiel, Matthew Bennett, Robert Addington and Perry Bernal, Plaintiffs, v. Phil MACHT, Byran Bartow, Colleen Collier, Mario Canziani, Kurt Schwebke, Juanita Echeverria, Virginia Wojdac, Scott Trippe, Mark Christian and Mary Enders-Muraski, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Wisconsin

235 F.Supp.2d 966

Edwin C. WEST, Dennis Thiel, Matthew Bennett, Robert Addington and Perry Bernal, Plaintiffs, v. Phil MACHT, Byran Bartow, Colleen Collier, Mario Canziani, Kurt Schwebke, Juanita Echeverria, Virginia Wojdac, Scott Trippe, Mark Christian and Mary Enders-Muraski, Defendants.

No. 99-C-0147.

United States District Court, E.D. Wisconsin.

December 3, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Patrick T. Berigan, (Wis. Coalition for Advocacy), for Plaintiffs.

Jody J. Schmelzer, (Wis. Dept. of Justice), for Defendants.

DECISION AND ORDER

ADELMAN, District Judge.

Plaintiffs, past and current patients at the Wisconsin Resource Center ("WRC"), bring this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that defendants, WRC staff, violated their constitutional rights. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their rights under the state patients' rights law, Wis. Stat. § 51.61. I have jurisdiction over plaintiffs' federal claims based on 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and have supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims based on 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a). Before me now are defendants' motions for summary judgment.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs West, Thiel, Bennett and Addington were civilly committed to the custody of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services as sexually violent persons, pursuant to Chapter 980 of the Wisconsin Statutes. Bernal was detained but not committed under Chapter 980.

At all relevant times defendants were WRC employees. Defendant Macht was the Director of WRC until January 2000 when defendant Bartow succeeded him. Defendant Canziani was the WRC Security Director. Defendant Collier was a client rights specialist. Defendants Schwebke, Echevarria, Wojdac, Trippe, Christian and Enders-Muraski were staff psychologists.

WRC is a state correctional institution and also was the treatment facility for Chapter 980 patients. In June 2001, the State opened a new treatment facility for persons detained or committed under Chapter 980, the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center ("Sand Ridge").

Plaintiffs' Third Amended Complaint contains six counts and involves three claims: (1) that defendants violated their rights to substantive due process of law (Count I) and their rights under state law (Count IV) by subjecting them to extended periods of seclusion and restraint; (2) that defendants violated their rights under the First Amendment (Count II) and state law (Count V) by intrusive surveillance of their mail; and (3) that defendants violated their constitutional rights of access to the courts (Count III) and their rights under state law (Count VI) by restricting their use of WRC's legal facilities. Plaintiffs seek monetary damages and injunctive and declaratory relief.

Plaintiffs West, Bennett, Addington and Bernal allege that they were unlawfully subjected to extended periods of seclusion, often lasting for weeks and sometimes for more than a month. Some of the seclusion was ordered by administrative staff, but most of it was carried out pursuant to Secure Management Plans ("SMPs"), created and implemented by treatment teams consisting of the psychologist defendants and others.

Seclusion consisted of isolation in a segregation cell on a special unit with little or no personal property. The cell contained only a concrete bed, sink, toilet and a window. At times plaintiffs were placed in cells while completely naked and, on at least one occasion, the cell had no toilet and the patient was given a plastic bag in which to relieve himself. During the first phase of the plans, plaintiffs were allowed out of their cells for one hour on weekdays and not at all on weekends. In the higher phases, plaintiffs were allowed out for two hours on weekdays. During the hour or two that they were out of their cells, plaintiffs were placed in physical restraints.

Plaintiffs allege that they were subjected to a number of extended periods of seclusion. One of Bennett's seclusion placements lasted for eighty-two days, and one of Bernal's lasted fifty-five days. In 1998, Bennett and Bernal each spent over one hundred days in seclusion. Addington and West were subjected to periods of seclusion lasting as long as twenty days at a time.

Plaintiffs West, Thiel and Addington challenge the WRC's policy of screening patient mail, pursuant to which they were required to open and shake out the contents of their mail in front of staff.

Plaintiffs West, Thiel and Addington also allege that defendants violated their constitutional right of access to courts. They claim that they were provided with insufficient access to legal resources such as, for example, not being given adequate time or training on Westlaw, a computerized legal research resource available at the WRC. Plaintiffs West, Thiel, Bennett, Addington and Bernal also assert a state law claim of denial of access to courts based on the same allegations and an allegation that such right of access was chilled by a memorandum written by Macht.

Since the commencement of this lawsuit, all plaintiffs except Bernal have been transferred to Sand Ridge, which has different policies than the WRC.

Additional facts will be stated in the course of this decision.

II. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Summary judgment is required "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). The mere existence of some factual dispute does not defeat a summary judgment motion; "the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (emphasis deleted). For a dispute to be genuine, the evidence must be such that a "reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Id. For the fact to be material, it must relate to a disputed matter that "might affect the outcome of the suit." Id.

Although summary judgment is a useful tool for isolating and terminating factually unsupported claims, Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986), courts should act with caution in granting summary judgment, Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505. When the evidence presented shows a dispute over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under governing law, summary judgment must be denied. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

The moving party bears the initial burden of demonstrating that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Where the moving party seeks summary judgment on the ground that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case, the moving party may satisfy its initial burden simply by pointing out the absence of evidence. Id. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Once the moving party's initial burden is met, the nonmoving party must "go beyond the pleadings" and designate specific facts to support each element of the cause of action, showing a genuine issue for trial. Id. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Neither party may rest on mere allegations or denials in the pleadings, Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, or upon conclusory statements in affidavits, Palucki v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 879 F.2d 1568, 1572 (7th Cir.1989).

In evaluating a motion for summary judgment, the court must draw all inferences in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). However, it is "not required to draw every conceivable inference from the record — only those inferences that are reasonable." Bank Leumi Le-Israel, B.M. v. Lee, 928 F.2d 232, 236 (7th Cir.1991).

Defendants base their summary judgment motions on a number of grounds including mootness, Eleventh Amendment immunity, the lack of sufficient personal involvement on the part of defendant Collier to support a § 1983 claim, plaintiffs' failure to satisfy the requirements of the state notice of claim law, and the failure of some of plaintiffs' claims on the merits. I now address defendants' motions.

III. MOOTNESS

Defendants contend that the requests of plaintiffs West, Thiel, Bennett and Addington for injunctive and declaratory relief are moot because they have been transferred to Sand Ridge. A case may become moot if, during the course of litigation, the plaintiff loses his personal stake in the outcome. Lewis v. Cont'l Bank Corp., 494 U.S. 472, 477-78, 110 S.Ct. 1249, 108 L.Ed.2d 400 (1990). When prison inmates challenge prison practices, their equitable claims are moot after they are moved to other prisons that do not apply those practices. Stewart v. McGinnis, 5 F.3d 1031, 1038 (7th Cir.1993); Martin v. Davies, 917 F.2d 336, 339 (7th Cir. 1990); see also Fuller v. Dillon, 236 F.3d 876, 883 (7th Cir.2001) (finding plaintiff prisoner's equitable relief claims challenging prison policies moot after he had been transferred); Henderson v. Sheahan, 196 F.3d 839, 849 n. 3 (7th Cir.1999) (same); Higgason v. Farley, 83 F.3d 807, 811 (7th Cir.1996) (after transfer prisoner's request for equitable relief is moot unless prisoner can demonstrate that he is likely to be retransferred).

Plaintiffs West, Thiel, Bennett and Addington have been transferred to Sand Ridge, and do not allege that they are likely to be returned to the WRC. Therefore, their requests for equitable relief are moot. Because Counts II and III involve only requests for equitable relief by plaintiffs who have been transferred, Counts II and III must be dismissed in their entirety.

IV. ELEVENTH AMENDMENT IMMUNITY

The Eleventh Amendment bars suits in federal court for money damages against unconsenting states. A suit against a state official in his or her official capacity is a suit against the official's office. Such a suit is no different than...