Poindexter v. Woodson

Citation357 F. Supp. 443
Decision Date02 April 1973
Docket NumberL-1217,L-1343.,Civ. No. L-1325,L-1201,L-1211
PartiesGary L. POINDEXTER, Petitioner, v. Robert N. WOODSON et al., Respondents. James Mearl SHARP, Petitioner, v. Robert N. WOODSON et al., Respondents. Samuel Ross BROOKS, Petitioner, v. Robert N. WOODSON et al., Respondents. Ray Charles TURNER, Petitioner, v. Robert N. WOODSON et al., Respondents. David Thomas KOWALEC, Petitioner, v. Robert N. WOODSON et al., Respondents.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Kansas

Robert Claus, Associate Gen. Counsel, Wyandotte County Legal Aid Society (appointed), Allen M. Ressler, Ronald L. Roseman, The Legal Aid and Defender Society of Greater Kansas City, Kansas City, Mo., Malcolm E. Wheeler, University of Kansas Law School, Lawrence, Kan., for petitioners.

Vern Miller, Kansas Atty. Gen., Dennis W. Moore, Asst. Atty. Gen., Kenneth F. Crockett, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Topeka, Kan., for respondents.

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

WESLEY E. BROWN, Chief Judge.

This is a civil rights action for injunctive relief and monetary damages. Jurisdiction of all parties and subject matter under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 28 U.S.C. § 1343 is admitted. At all times pertinent to the events giving rise to this action, all plaintiffs were inmates of the Kansas State Penitentiary, Lansing, Kansas (hereinafter referred to as "KSP"). At the time of trial, all plaintiffs remained incarcerated at KSP, with the exception of plaintiff Turner, who was free on parole. At the time of the events giving rise to this action, all defendants were employees of the State of Kansas, and were acting in their respective official capacities in the Kansas penal system.1 By agreement of counsel, the above-captioned cases were consolidated for trial, due to their factual similarity.2 Additionally, it was agreed that the cases should be tried to the Court, rather than to a jury. The Court has considered the evidence adduced at trial, stipulations contained in the pretrial orders, and the arguments by presented pre- and post-trial briefs.

ISSUES PRESENTED AND RELIEF REQUESTED

A separate pre-trial order was filed for each plaintiff. Each pre-trial order sets out for determination several issues of fact, and one common issue of law. The issues of fact are generally applicable to each plaintiff and our findings of fact will apply except where noted to each plaintiff. We summarized the issue which apply to each plaintiff as follows:

1. Confinement in the maximum security facility without charges being made by Prison officials.
2. Exposure to tear gas while confined in cells.
3. Spraying by water hoses.
4. Incarceration in "strip cells".

Intertwined in these general issues of fact are issues relating to the conditions at the prison and the injuries, if any, suffered by the plaintiffs as a result of the acts alleged.

The single common issue of law is as follows:

"Did plaintiffs' confinement in the Adjustment and Treatment Facility, and the treatment he was subjected to while there confined under the conditions to which he was subjected, or any one or more of said conditions or any one or more of acts of mistreatment, if any, constitute cruel and unusual punishment?"

At trial, the plaintiffs reduced their respective prayers for monetary damages to $10,000.00 each. Each plaintiff also prays for permanent injunctive relief from the acts complained of, plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. During 1968-1969, there were approximately 1,250 inmates incarcerated at KSP. The maximum capacity of KSP, when originally designed, was 1100 inmates housed in single cells. It is undisputed that conditions during this period within KSP were unsatisfactory in several respects. Prison officials and inmates alike testified that the prison was overcrowded, that the living conditions, food, and rehabilitation programs were substandard, and that, in the words of the present warden, the prison hospital was a "pest house". The present penal director, defendant Woodson, described the institution as degrading, and he stated that prior to the riot of June 1969, it was questionable whether the inmates or the administration was running the prison.

2. In the evening hours of June 17, 1969, a massive "shake-down" of the cell-houses was conducted. Large quantities of contraband were confiscated. By the next morning, June 18, 1969, a full-scale riot was in progress in two of the three main cell-houses. In A and C cell-houses, prisoners broke windows and fixtures, started fires and rendered inoperable the locking mechanisms of the individual cells. By evening, the guards were withdrawn from within the cell-houses, leaving the prisoners free to roam unrestrained inside the cell-houses. The outer main door, which was locked by prison officials, kept the inmates in the cell-houses.

3. Within a short time, the inmates took complete control of cell-houses A and C. Plaintiff Sharp, for example, testified that in C cell-house, informal and unstable leadership roles were established by the inmates in an effort to maintain some order and discipline. Potential perpetrators and victims of assaults were first warned, and then ejected from the cell-houses at the direction of inmate leaders, one of whom was Sharp. At least one inmate was killed in the cell-houses, apparently by a fellow inmate or inmates.

4. The weeks following June 18, 1969, were chaotic. Prison officials worked 7-day weeks, often 16-hour days. Control of the prison population was maintained largely by force, and the prison staff was supplemented by highway patrolmen. Several prison staff members resigned. It became difficult to keep an accurate count of the inmates and escapes were feared. Few, if any, inmates continued to work in the prison industries. The inmates remained largely in control of the cell-houses. Due to destruction of cell-houses by inmates, a compound was constructed outside the prison walls to house inmates while repairs were being made in the cell-houses. Portable housing units were erected in the compound, but these were burned by inmates. Acts of destruction continued within the prison walls and in the cell-houses. The sign and marker plant was destroyed by fire; the cannery was badly damaged. Several tunnels were discovered and closed. Inmates made demands and ultimatums to prison officials concerning such things as food and hospital services. The rate of self-inflicted wounds was high.

5. This situation continued on for several months, and it was not until May, 1970, that officials regained complete control of the prison. It took many months to repair the damages caused by the rioting inmates at a cost in excess of $234,000.00.

6. Within the walls of KSP, there is a separate building referred to by prison officials as the Adjustment and Treatment Facility or "A and T", and by the inmates as "jail". A and T was completed in 1965, and is much newer than the other cell-houses. It is a solid concrete building in the shape of a "T", with each arm of the T forming the wings of cells: north, east, and south wings. At the apex of the T, where the arms join, there is a control center or guard station. The cells are situated in two-story fashion on each wing, and are in double rows or "runs". Each run is bisected by a corridor or "tunnel" which contains the plumbing, heating and air-conditioning and electrical connections for each cell. There are no windows in A and T, only one door, and the only ventilation is through the central air-conditioning system. Fresh air is introduced through air ducts which run along the walls opposite the front of the cell runs. Stale air is exhausted through vents in the rear of each cell via a duct system running in the tunnel.

The bottom floor of each wing is called the "Flag" and is an open area approximately ten feet wide which runs the length of each cell run, and which is, in effect, three stories high (there is a third story above the second tier of cells which exists for future expansion, but which, at times pertinent to this case, was merely an open, concrete-floored area). In front of the second tier of cells runs a concrete walkway, protected by a double rail. There are 109 cells in A and T, ranging from one, two, and four-man capacity. Each cell, except the strip cells which will be described presently, contains a bunk or bunks, a prison-type combination washbasin and toilet, a mirror, radio jack, a recessed light fixture which is covered by a glass plate and surrounded by a metal frame, and a metal-framed exhaust ventilator covered by a metal grill. In the bars at the front of each cell is a slot through which food trays are passed. The inmates call this slot the "bean-hole".

7. The purpose of the A and T facility is to segregate prisoners from the general prison population in a maximum-security environment. During the time period pertinent to this case, inmates were confined in their cells for almost 24 hours per day, with no opportunity to participate in vocational training, work or educational programs, or any other type of rehabilitation or recreational programs. There were no exercise facilities in A and T, and an inmate in A and T had no opportunity for daily exercise. Bathing was allowed only when there was sufficient guard force available to supervise the showers. The diet given A and T inmates was generally the same as that given the rest of the prison population, except that fruits, fruit juices, and dry cereal were not provided, apparently on the grounds that these foods could be used to make alcohol or "hooch".

8. During the time period pertinent to this case, and particularly following the riot of June 18, 1969, any number of prison officials were authorized to place an inmate in A and T. It is clear from the testimony that the Warden, Deputy Warden, and Major of the Guard had such authority, but it would appear that other officers likewise had...

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  • Merco Properties, Inc. v. Guggenheimer
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
    • June 3, 1975
    ...capacity does operate as a bar to liability for monetary damages. Williams v. Eaton, 443 F.2d 422 (10th Cir. 1971); Poindexter v. Woodson, 357 F.Supp. 443 (D.Kan.1973). In this action, defendants have been sued in their official capacities "and there is no question that they were acting in ......
  • Spain v. Procunier
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    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)
    • May 30, 1979
    ...v. Anderson, 387 F.Supp. 412, 414 (E.D.Okl.1974); Collins v. Schoonfield, 363 F.Supp. 1152, 1164-65 (D.Md.1973); Poindexter v. Woodson, 357 F.Supp. 443, 456 (D.Kan.1973), Aff'd 510 F.2d 464 (10th Cir.), Cert. denied, 423 U.S. 846, 96 S.Ct. 85, 46 L.Ed.2d 68 (1975); Cf. Commission on Accredi......
  • Gibbons v. Higgins, 94-2636
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    • December 20, 1995
    ...363 F.Supp. 1152, 1164-65 (D.Md.1973) (no constitutional violation where fire hose used to quell prison uprising); Poindexter v. Woodson, 357 F.Supp. 443, 451 (D.Kan.1973), aff'd., 510 F.2d 464 (10th Cir.1975) (inmates sprayed with power hose for approximately one minute; "the hoses were us......
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    ...relief against all defendants except the Secretary of HUD, who was the only HUD defendant not sued personally. See Poindexter v. Woodman, 357 F. Supp. 443 (D.Kan.1973). Plaintiffs originally brought this action in the Circuit Court of Cook County and defendants removed under 28 U.S.C. § 144......
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