Inmates of Suffolk County Jail v. Eisenstadt

• Citation: 360 F. Supp. 676
• Decision Date: 06 July 1973
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 71-162-G.
• Parties: INMATES OF the SUFFOLK COUNTY JAIL et al., Plaintiffs, v. Thomas S. EISENSTADT et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts

360 F. Supp. 676

INMATES OF the SUFFOLK COUNTY JAIL et al., Plaintiffs, v. Thomas S. EISENSTADT et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 71-162-G.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

June 20, 1973.

Appendix A, June 2, 1973.

Appendix B, July 6, 1973.

Max D. Stern, Matthew Feinberg, Richard D. Clarey and John T. Williams, Boston, Mass., Stanley A. Bass, New York City, for plaintiffs.

Walter H. Mayo III, Asst. Atty. Gen., Kevin M. Keating, Crane, Inker & Oteri, Lawrence J. Ball, Asst. Corp. Counsel, City of Boston, Law Dept., Boston, Mass., for defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

GARRITY, Jr., District Judge.

This action arises under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and jurisdiction is based on 28 U. S.C. § 1343(3), (4). Plaintiffs, named inmates of the Suffolk County Jail in Boston, Massachusetts (otherwise known as, and hereinafter referred to as, the Charles Street Jail) sue on their own behalf and on behalf of all inmates at Charles Street Jail as a class. Defendants are the Sheriff of Suffolk County, who has primary custody and control over the facility; the master of the jail, who has ongoing responsibility for its daily operation; the Commissioner of Correction for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; and the Mayor and nine City Councillors for the City of Boston.¹ Primarily at issue is whether incarceration of unsentenced inmates in this facility contravenes the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, although First and Sixth Amendment allegations are also involved.

The history of this litigation reflects a spirit of cooperation by the parties and their counsel with each other and with the court, resulting in submission of two stipulated partial judgments which were entered by the court on June 2 and July 6, 1972 and which improved conditions at the jail in many important respects and substantially narrowed the issues to be resolved. (Copies of these partial judgments appear as appendices A and B to this opinion.) Among other matters treated therein are the elimination from use of certain isolation facilities, promulgation of disciplinary rules and procedures, increase of the number of visits per week, and limitations upon the reading and censoring of mail by jail officials. In addition, the parties submitted a lengthy stipulation of undisputed facts, so that the greater part of the trial could be profitably devoted to expert testimony.

Trial on the merits covered parts of six days. Testimony was received from thirteen witnesses, including the defendants sheriff and master and the deputy master of Charles Street; Warren A. Worth, senior jail inspector for the Federal Bureau of Prisons; James V. Bennett, former Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons; and various expert witnesses on such subjects as diet and nutrition, health care and facilities, and structural and architectural deficiencies. The record also includes voluminous documentary evidence, including official reports and written statements of experts on several aspects of the jail and approximately 30 affidavits of inmates (where inmates are quoted in footnotes to this opinion, it will be from their affidavits received in evidence and marked as exhibits). In addition, with the full cooperation of jail officials, the trial judge and his law clerk took a view of nearly every area of the facility and, without advance notice, stayed overnight in a cell. The findings of fact herein are based on the stipulation and documents, the testimony, and the court's personal observations.

The relief sought by plaintiffs, beyond that already afforded in the consent partial judgments, falls generally within two categories. One line of requested relief, premised upon the cruel and unusual punishment provision in the Eighth Amendment and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, focuses upon alleged constitutional defects in the quality and level of incarceration and is specifically based upon such things as structural inadequacies, poor plumbing, space limitations, inadequate diet and health care, inadequate exercise and recreation, and inadequate provision for personal hygiene, all of which, plaintiffs claim, have a pernicious, deleterious effect upon the physical and mental health of inmates. A second line of requested relief, premised generally upon plaintiffs' status as detainees rather than convicts and specifically upon First and Sixth Amendment considerations, seeks to provide plaintiffs with greater access to counsel, family and friends, and books, magazines and periodicals.

Findings of Fact

1. Charles Street has been in continuous use since about 1848. It was originally constructed to house one prisoner per cell.² Cells for male inmates are in three wings, east, north and south. Centered in each wing, such that the exterior walls of the building are about 15 feet away from the cells, is a cell block which extends from floor to ceiling, i. e., there are no floors separating one tier or level of cells from another. Passage along each tier above ground level is by means of a catwalk, comparable to an outdoor fire escape, which leads to a central staircase at the end of the cell block. The catwalks on the side wings are connected to the catwalks on the long row. Each block consists of five tiers and has cells back-to-back on both sides, all facing an outer wall. The east wing (or long row) has 12 cells on both sides of each tier; there are four cells on both sides of each tier of the north and south wings. Of 180 cells for men, only 142 are considered operable; the rest, largely due to defects in the locks and plumbing, are not in use. A fourth, or west, wing houses administrative offices, medical facilities, and an auditorium used at various times as a chapel, theatre and recreation area. All four wings meet at an open, central rotunda.

2. The cells have four walls of stone; three of them are solid; the fourth wall, nearest the catwalk, has two openings, one a barred (and sometimes screened) window-like opening and the other a heavy, barred (and sometimes screened) door which swings on large hinges. The walls are cracked and flaked with repeated coats of paint; the floors are of composition tile; the walls and floor are damp and clammy. There are no heat outlets in the cells; heat is circulated by means of blowers at the end of the tiers; upper tier cells are extremely hot in the summertime and lower ones frigid in cold weather.³ Cell size is approximately 8' wide × 11' long × 10' high, and was designed and constructed for single occupancy. Nearly all of the usable floor space in cells is taken up by two iron-slatted cots which have no springs, are covered by old, worn and often soiled mattresses which have no protective covers and are in deplorable and unhealthy condition. The area between the cots is not sufficient to allow two men to pass each other. It is impossible for two men to occupy one of these cells without regular, inadvertent physical contact, inevitably exacerbating tensions and creating interpersonal friction.⁴ On either end of one of the cots there is open floor space approximately 1-1½ feet wide; however, there is no unused floor space at the head and foot of the second cot, one end being taken up by the toilet and the other by a metal, quarter-circular slab built into the wall, which is the only surface available for either storage or writing. The only other furnishings are a sink with cold running water, a few wall pegs for hanging clothes and an unshaded 60-watt light bulb which is built into the wall at the end of the cell nearest the catwalk and is controlled from outside the cell.

3. The plumbing system is antiquated, inadequate and impossible to repair economically and, as testified by James V. Bennett, "positively repulsive." Ruptures, leaks and flooding frequently occur in "the flats" (an area on the bottom level of the east wing where inmates eat their meals) and in the pump room (sub-basement) beneath the jail. There are major leaks in the boiler room ceiling. There are leaky ceiling pipes (both for water and heat) in the kitchen which sometimes drip directly onto food about to be served. Toilets and sinks in the cells are corroded, filth-encrusted and often a serious health hazard. Toilet bowls are not covered and many have no seats. The water in the toilets is at a level with the bottom of the bowl; the water does not partially fill the bowl as in modern public health code toilets. Flush valves in the toilet units are old and in need of repair or replacement, causing the toilets and sinks to get plugged up and to overflow frequently.⁵ Usually when this happens, the cells must be closed but some cells remain in use despite leaking toilets and sinks. A fecal smell emanates from many toilets. This attracts bugs and other insects. There is no hot water in the cells; in the shower room, on some mornings there is no hot water at all, while on other days the water is scalding, because the cold water pressure is low.

4. The jail as a whole poses a serious fire hazard. In case of fire, removal of inmates can only be accomplished by unlocking each cell door individually. The only fire escape in the entire jail consists of a single steel ladder running from the fifth tier down to the first tier of the east wing. The ladder is enclosed in a steel mesh shaft and exits onto the corridor at the far end of the east wing. Since there is only one staircase per cell block, at the near end, i. e., closest to the rotunda, officers must unlock all doors on each tier, then retrace their steps in order to descend to the next lower tier. Most of the electrical current in the jail is direct current. It is necessary each year to repair, overhaul and convert several direct current motors at great expense. At present there is no emergency back-up electrical generator. In the Sheriff's 1971 Supplementary Budget Request No. 59 (p. 4, 3/4/71), it is stated that "in the event of an electrical power failure at the jail due to fire or other catastrophe, the...