Parks v. Ciccone

• Decision Date: 08 March 1968
• Docket Number: No. 16606-4.,16606-4.
• Citation: 281 F. Supp. 805
• Parties: Jerry Franklin PARKS, Petitioner, v. Dr. P. J. CICCONE, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Missouri

281 F. Supp. 805

Jerry Franklin PARKS, Petitioner, v. Dr. P. J. CICCONE, Respondent.

No. 16606-4.

United States District Court W. D. Missouri, W. D.

March 8, 1968.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Michael T. White, Sheridan, Sanders, Millin, Peters, Carr & Sharp, Kansas City, Mo., for petitioner.

Calvin K. Hamilton, U. S. Atty., Charles E. French, Asst. U. S. Atty., Kansas City, Mo., for respondent.

MEMORANDUM

ELMO B. HUNTER, District Judge.

Petitioner is presently confined at the Federal Medical Center, Springfield, Missouri. On June 16, 1967, he was committed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4246, by the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. Petitioner is charged with violation of the Dyer Act.

On September 15, 1967, Petitioner filed a petition for habeas corpus, contending that he was being denied numerous constitutional rights by the Medical Center and its personnel. His original petition was supplemented by additional documents, and was finally set for hearing for October 29, 1967, on those matters upon which a hearing was required. On October 12, 1967, with the consent of Petitioner, Mr. Michael T. White, a well-qualified Kansas City attorney, was appointed by the Court to represent Petitioner, and to assist him in all respects.

The evidentiary hearing commenced on Tuesday, October 29, 1967, and, with the consent of all parties, was continued from that date to February 26, 1968, for the purpose of giving all parties additional opportunity to prepare concerning certain contentions. On February 26, 1968, the evidentiary hearing was resumed, and at the close thereof, the case was taken under advisement by the Court.

The following are the contentions of Petitioner: I. Petitioner's right of freedom of speech, as guaranteed by the First Amendment, was violated in that: (a) — Petitioner was limited to possessing 15 letters; (b) — Petitioner was limited to corresponding with no more than 12 approved persons; (c) — Petitioner's mail was censored. II. Petitioner was forced into involuntary servitude, contrary to Amendment XIII, in that although an unconvicted person, he was required to perform work; was not paid an adequate wage therefor; and was not permitted to do the type and amount of work that he desired. III. Petitioner was unconstitutionally limited in his right to keep books, magazines, and other written material, by the arbitrary rules of the Medical Center. IV. Petitioner was unconstitutionally deprived of his right to purchase and have certain magazines and related material. V. Petitioner was unconstitutionally punished for resorting to the courts in such matters as the filing of writs and other legal papers, and the making of court appearances. VI. Petitioner was wrongfully prohibited from carrying on commercial activities while an inmate, and particularly leather-craft, mail order business, and similar matters. VII. Petitioner was wrongfully denied the use of a typewriter in the preparation of legal documents and correspondence. VIII. Petitioner was wrongfully denied medical treatment and medical examination. IX. Petitioner, although an unconvicted person, was unconstitutionally treated the same as a convicted person by the medical institution and its personnel. X. Petitioner's approved list of correspondents was wrongfully subjected to police investigation, including police visits to the people named thereon. XI. Petitioner was unconstitutionally denied the right to receive legal help and legal assistance from fellow inmates of the institution. XII. Petitioner was the victim of unlawful search and seizures of certain books and letters possessed by him.

While many of the above contentions lack evidentiary support, the Court will endeavor to deal with them individually, after first stating legal principles that may be involved.

Congress has placed the management of federal penal and certain medical type institutions in the executive department of the United States, and the executive department is charged by Congress with the responsibility for the security of the prisoners, inmates, officials and others working within the particular institution. Thus, the federal courts have recognized that discipline and the general management of such institutions are executive functions with which the judicial branch ordinarily will not interfere. The established rule is that to be a proper basis for a prisoner or inmate to seek and obtain judicial relief against institutional treatment the matter must amount to unlawful administration of sentence or confinement. This is held to mean that the institutional treatment must be of such a nature as to clearly infringe upon constitutional right; or be of such character or consequence as to shock general conscience; or be intolerable in fundamental fairness.

Reference to the more recent opinions on this subject will illustrate the type of constitutional infringement or intolerable conduct mentioned above, and also will illuminate the well-settled rule that it is not the function of the courts generally to superintend the treatment and discipline of prisoners or inmates in such institutions.

The most recent pronouncement on the subject is by Judge Gibson in Douglas v. Sigler, Warden, 386 F.2d 684, 8th Circuit, November 28, 1967. In stating the well recognized applicable principles Judge Gibson declared: "The petitioner and other inmates of penal and correctional institutions should realize that the penal and correctional institutions are under the control and responsibility of the executive branch of the government and that courts will not interfere with the conduct, management and disciplinary control of this type of institution except in extreme cases. As this Court has stated in Lee v. Tahash, Warden, 352 F.2d 970, 971 (8th Cir. 1965) `* * * it is settled doctrine that except in extreme cases the courts may not interfere with the conduct of a prison, with its regulations and their enforcement, or with its discipline.' * * * The matter of the internal management of prisons or correctional institutions is vested in and rests with the heads of those institutions operating under statutory authority, and their acts and administration of prison discipline and overall operation of the institution is not subject to court supervision or control, absent most unusual circumstances or absent a violation of a constitutional right."

In Sutton v. Settle (8th Cir. 1962), 302 F.2d 286, cert. den. 372 U.S. 930, 83 S. Ct. 876, 9 L.Ed.2d 734, it was expressed: "The Medical Center at Springfield is an institution in which arrested federal prisoners may prior to trial be placed under appropriate circumstances. * * * The responsibility for the supervision of such institutions and the inmates is placed upon the Attorney General. Courts have uniformly held that supervision of inmates of federal institutions rests with the proper administrative authorities and the courts have no power to supervise the management and disciplinary rules of such institutions."

In Harris v. Settle (8th Cir. 1963), 322 F.2d 908, the Court quoted with approval from the opinion of the Fourth Circuit in Roberts v. Pegelow, 313 F.2d 548, 550, as follows: "Since management of the penal institutions has been placed by the Congress in the Executive Department, and the Executive Department is solely responsible for the security of the prisoners and of the officials and others working within the prison, they must be allowed to exercise a largely unfettered discretion in deciding what security measures are appropriate and, with respect to each prisoner, what relative freedom he safely may be allowed. * * * So long as the punishment imposed for an infraction of the rules is not so unreasonable as to be characterized as vindictive, cruel or inhuman, there is no right of judicial review of it. * * * Such questions as these have consistently been held to be nonjusticiable, for routine security measures and disciplinary action rest solely in the discretion of the prison officials and their superiors in the Executive Department."

The Eighth Circuit then proceeded to say: "There may, of course, be a rare and exceptional situation where a court will undertake to review the nature and conditions of a prisoner's otherwise lawful confinement." (Citations omitted.)

In United States ex rel. Morris v. Radio Station WENR, 209 F.2d 105, 107, the 7th Circuit expressed it thusly: "A prisoner may not approve of prison rules and regulations, but under all ordinary circumstances that is no basis for coming into a federal court, seeking relief, even though he may claim that the restrictions placed upon his activities are in violation of his constitutional rights. * * We think that it is well settled that it is not the function of the courts to superintend the treatment and discipline of prisoners in penitentiaries * * *."

In Lee v. Tahash (8th Cir. 1965), 352 F.2d 970, petitioner sought a declaratory judgment and an injunction against the prison warden because of prison mailing regulations involving the return to the prisoner of certain letters he had attempted to mail. Judge Johnsen, in writing the affirmance of the trial court's dismissal of the action for failure to state a claim, wrote: "Restrictions on the extent and character of prisoners' correspondence and examination or censorship in relation thereto have always been regarded as inherent incidents in the conduct of penal institutions and the control of confinements, activities, pre-occupations and other relationships therein.

"As to the justiciability of this and other elements of sentence-execution generally, it is settled doctrine that except in extreme cases the courts may not interfere with the conduct of the prison, with its regulations and their enforcement, or with its discipline. (Citations omitted.)

"Attempts to have the courts deal with correspondence privilege in prisons are, as indicated, within this doctrine. Contrary to the apparent view...