Hill v. Estelle
| Decision Date | 16 November 1976 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 76-H-1479. |
| Citation | 423 F. Supp. 690 |
| Parties | Thomas E. HILL and Clyde Wade Sewell, Plaintiffs, v. W. J. ESTELLE, Jr., Director, Texas Department of Corrections, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas |
Thomas E. Hill and Clyde Wade Sewell pro se.
Plaintiffs, inmates filing in forma pauperis, seek declaratory and monetary relief under the Civil Rights Act for allegedly discriminatory treatment on the basis of sex. Plaintiffs assert that women prisoners at the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) have occasional access to telephones and are granted wide discretion in personal standards of grooming. Male prisoners, they submit, do not have telephone privileges, are forced to shave and are compelled to obey a vague, capriciously applied, haircut rule. Plaintiffs claim that the aforementioned prison policies violate the United States Constitution and Texas law.
Because of a prior action filed in this Court and appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit by these two plaintiffs, the Court concludes for reasons hereinafter discussed that plaintiffs' present action is brought with malicious intent to abuse the processes of the Court. Accordingly, this action is dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d) (1966).
Plaintiffs Hill and Sewell were both named plaintiffs in a prior lawsuit styled Hill, et al v. Estelle, Civil Action 75-H-1858, in which the Honorable Woodrow Seals granted the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss on January 30, 1976. The case was appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit which affirmed the decision of Judge Seals on August 20, 1976.1 Ten days later, on August 30, 1976, this present cause of action was submitted for filing by Hill and Sewell.2 Even a cursory review and comparison of the complaint considered by Judge Seals and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals with the instant complaint is sufficient for one to ascertain that the two pleadings are virtually identical in substance and form.
Excluding jurisdictional statements and slight changes in the order of the clauses, the complaints, as submitted, read as follows:3
1. Civil Action 75-H-1858; The Old Complaint
a. Grooming
(1) Male inmates of TDC are required to wear their hair in a uniform, short. They are not allowed beards, mustaches and only the minimum of sideburns.
(2) Female inmates of TDC are allowed to chose the length, style and even color of their hair. They are given the choice of whether they shave, pluck or allow their facial and body hair to grow.
(3) Female inmates are allowed to decorate and personalize their cells. Male inmates must maintain bare walls and drab cells.
(4) Male inmates are stripped of their usual appearance, thus, suffering a personal defacement, depriving the inmate of his sense of identity and presence.
(5) TDC Rules and Regulations, policies and practices that compel male inmates to wear uniform haircuts and the minimum of sideburns, are prison efforts that are dehumanization by forced conformity.
(6) The whole process of cutting male inmates' hair really amounts to a grisly flashback into an age when it was a recognized, accepted practice of penal institutions to disfigure prisoners in some fashion so as to mark him, at least for some period of time, to be held up to scorn by the public.
(7) This depersonalization is an attempt to break down the inmate to an acceptable level of subserviency.
(8) These restrictions are not supportable for reasons of prison sanitation, discipline or morale.
(9) The personal appearance of a person is his right to determine, even in prison, unless the officials can support a contrary regulation by compelling reasons.
(10) Unless prison officials can advance a reason for women prisoners, but not men, to wear long hair, this is a plain violation of the man's right to equal protection of the laws since arbitrary discrimination based on sex is unconstitutional. Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, Equal Protection.
2. Civil Action 76-H-1479; The Present Complaint
a. Grooming
(1) Male prisoners of TDC are required to wear their hair in a uniform manner, short, not exceeding an inch to an inch and a half on top, with only a minimum of sideburns. Beards and mustaches are forbidden.
(2) Female prisoners of TDC are allowed to choose the length, style and even color of their hair. They are given the choice of whether they shave, pluck or allow their facial hair to grow.
(3) Male prisoners on the Ellis Unit who are not working are only allowed to shower and change clothes on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
(4) There are no licensed barbers in TDC. Rule 3.1.4. Haircuts, is by action of the agents of Defendant Estelle, arbitrary and capriciously enforced, this same rule being utilized by the Ellis Unit Disciplinary Committee as a means of punishment. The rule is vague and provides no guidelines as to just what constitutes "good taste" or how "properly" a haircut is.
(5) Male prisoners who have their case on appeal are required to cut their hair short and shave their mustaches and beards even though they may be called back to court, released or retried at any time without an opportunity to regain their original appearance concerning their hair, beards, or mustaches.
(6) The convictions of all prisoners with their case on appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals are not final convictions until they are affirmed by that court, and to compel them to appear at hearings, or retrials with an altered appearance is a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, when female prisoners are allowed to return to court with their appearance intact.
(7) Rules and Regulations of TDC, November 1, 1975, are as follows:
Rule 1.2.6. The Director's Authority is defined in Article 6166j, V.C.S. (Vernon's Civil Statutes).
Rule 1.3.3. Enforcement No warden, officer in charge, or other employee shall knowingly permit any subordinate or inmate nor shall he himself commit any act or engage in any conduct which would violate these rules and regulations. (remainder omitted by drawer)
Rule 3.1.1. Bathing Each inmate will be required to bathe at least once a day, providing facilities are available.
Rule 3.1.2. Clothes Each inmate will be required to make a change of clothing at least once a day.
Rule 3.1.3. Shaving Each inmate must be clean shaven.
Rule 3.1.4. Haircuts Each inmate will be required to have his hair cut properly, within good taste. Barber services are provided for all inmates, and they are expected to avail themselves of this service.
(8) Texas state law requires that there be one (1) licensed barber for every three (3) unlicensed barbers operating.
3. Civil Action 75-H-1858; The Old Complaint
a. Telephone Privileges
(1) Female inmates are allowed phone calls home every sixty (60) days or so. This privilege is not allowed male inmates.
(2) To deny male prisoners phone calls home is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
(3) The treatment afforded male prisoners is cruel and unusual and a violation of the Eighth Amendment since it is discriminatory in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
4. Civil Action 76-H-1479; The Present Complaint
a. Telephone Privileges
(1) Female prisoners are allowed phone calls home every sixty (60) days or so. This privilege is denied male prisoners.
(2) It is a violation of state law, Article 6166j, V.C.S., to enforce a rule or regulation that applies to male and female prisoners alike, to male prisoners only or to allow privileges to female prisoners and deny them to male prisoners.
(3) Section 11, Chapter 212, Acts of the 40th Legislature, Regular Session, 1927 (Article 6166j, Vernon's Civil Statutes), was amended (House Bill 989), and signed into law on October 28th, 1975, to read:
`Neither the Department of Corrections nor the director may discriminate against a prisoner on the basis of sex, race, color, creed, or national origin.'
(4) Male prisoners are denied adequate and equal contact and access to the community, their families and lawyers and courts when phone calls are allowed to female prisoners only and not to male prisoners.
(5) For the Defendant to enforce a rule or regulation that is in violation of Texas state law is a violation of the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
5. Civil Action 75-H-1858; The Old Complaint
a. Relief Sought
The Plaintiffs have no plain, adequate or complete remedy at law to redress the wrongs described herein. Plaintiffs have been and will continue to be irreparably injured by the conduct of the Defendant unless this Court grants the declaratory relief which Plaintiffs seek.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully pray that this Court enter judgment granting Plaintiffs:
(1) A declaratory judgment that the Defendant's acts, policy and practices described herein violate Plaintiffs' rights under the United States Constitution.
(2) Compensatory damages in the amount of $25,000 to each Plaintiff from the Defendant.
(3) Punitive damages of $50,000 to each Plaintiff from the Defendant.
(4) Trial by jury on all issues triable by jury.
(5) Plaintiff's costs of this suit.
(6) Such other and further relief as the Court deems just.
6. Civil Action 76-H-1479; The Present Complaint
a. Relief Sought
The Plaintiffs have no plain, adequate or complete remedy at law to redress the wrongs described herein. Plaintiffs have been and will continue to be irreparably injured by the conduct of the Defendant unless this Court grants the declaratory relief which Plaintiffs seek.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully pray that this Court enter judgment granting Plaintiffs:
(1) A declaratory judgment that the Defendant...
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