Rone v. Fireman

• Decision Date: 18 June 1979
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. C75-355A.
• Citation: 473 F. Supp. 92
• Parties: Alynn RONE et al., Plaintiffs, United States of America, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. Barry I. FIREMAN, Superintendent, Hawthornden State Hospital, et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio

473 F. Supp. 92

Alynn RONE et al., Plaintiffs, United States of America, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. Barry I. FIREMAN, Superintendent, Hawthornden State Hospital, et al.

Civ. A. No. C75-355A.

United States District Court, N. D. Ohio, E. D.

June 18, 1979.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Franklin J. Hickman, Carolyn L. Carter, Cleveland, Ohio, for plaintiffs.

Leonard Rieser, Karen Christensen, Lucy Thomson, Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division, Washington, D. C., for plaintiff-intervenor.

Eugene Green, Barry R. Laine and Patricia S. Roberts, Youngstown, Ohio, for defendants Rhodes, Moritz, Davis & Fireman.

John C. McDonald, Emens, Hurd, Kegler & Ritter, Jolynn Barry, Columbus, Ohio, for defendants Rehabilitation Services Commission, Director of the Ohio Dept. of Health, Director of the Ohio Dept. of Public Welfare.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

CONTIE, District Judge.

Three patients at Western Reserve Psychiatric Habilitation Center, formerly Hawthornden State Hospital, initiated this action, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, on January 7, 1976, to redress the alleged deprivation under color of law of rights guaranteed by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.¹ Plaintiffs named as defendants the superintendent of Western Reserve Psychiatric Habilitation Center, the Governor of the State of Ohio, the director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, the commissioner of the Division of Mental Health, the director of the Ohio Department of Health, the director of the Ohio Department of Public Welfare, and the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission.² The jurisdiction of this Court is invoked pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3) and (4).

Essentially, plaintiffs assert that the defendants, acting under color of law, have maintained conditions and practices at Western Reserve Psychiatric Habilitation Center which have deprived them of their right to be free from harm in violation of the Eighth Amendment, and their right to treatment and right to treatment in the least restrictive setting appropriate to their needs both in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. As pendent state claims, it is further alleged that defendants have violated plaintiffs' statutory rights to humane care and treatment, and to the least restrictive environment consistent with the treatment plan under the law of Ohio.

With regard to the director of the Ohio Department of Health, the director of the Ohio Department of Public Welfare, and the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission, plaintiffs allege that they have wholly failed to fulfill their duties under federal and state law. Additionally, it is asserted that the latter two defendants are necessary parties for purposes of relief under Rule 19, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Equitable relief in the form of a permanent injunction is sought. Plaintiffs also request a declaratory judgment and an award of attorneys' fees and the costs incurred in prosecuting this action.

The defendants have essentially denied the allegations of the complaint.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Shortly after filing the original complaint, plaintiffs, having initiated this action in their own behalf and on behalf of all persons similarly situated, moved the Court on March 2, 1976 to certify the within action as a class action under Rule 23, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. By Order of March 9, 1976, this Court certified the class consisting of

all persons who now occupy or who will, during the pendency of this suit, occupy any ward or facility, exclusive of Geriatric Services, as patients at Hawthornden State Hospital

as the class represented by the named plaintiffs.

Pursuant to the consent and stipulation of all parties, a preliminary injunction was entered against the defendants on May 3, 1976. Said Order required the defendants to provide specific relief regarding the number and training and education of staff, patient evaluations, supplies, building improvements and further admissions. The preliminary injunction has subsequently been amended three times by agreement of plaintiffs and defendants due to certain changes of circumstances. The amendments were filed December 2, 1976, June 1, 1978, and March 16, 1979.

On May 25, 1976, the Court granted the United States of America leave to intervene as a party plaintiff in this action. Its complaint in intervention alleging substantially the same violations of plaintiffs' Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights was filed that same date.

Thereafter, plaintiffs moved the Court separately to amend the class definition, and for leave to file an amended supplemental complaint. By Order of February 22, 1977, this Court granted the former motion and certified as the class represented by the named plaintiffs the following:

All persons who have at any time since March 2, 1976, occupied, or who will at any time during the pendency of this action occupy any ward or facility as patients at Western Reserve Psychiatric Habilitation Center (formerly Hawthornden State Hospital).

Thus patients within the geriatric service were included in the class definition. Likewise on February 22, 1977, the latter motion was granted and an amended supplemental complaint filed. This complaint added one named plaintiff as representative of the geriatric service patients; the other allegations are substantially the same as those of the original complaint.

A consent judgment between plaintiffs, plaintiff-intervenor, and the director of the Ohio Department of Health was entered on December 29, 1977. Said judgment was consented to by the director for the purpose of compromising and settling all claims against this defendant. It in effect ordered the health department to follow certain procedures with regard to its programs and services, and the inspection of nursing homes, rest homes, and homes for the aging.

Thereafter, this action proceeded to trial on the issue of liability. The Court duly heard extensive testimony and received numerous exhibits over 31 days in January and February, 1978.

After the trial of this action and submission of the parties' briefs, defendants moved the Court on June 27, 1978 to reopen the record. The purpose of said motion was to inform the Court of defendants' decision to relocate the proposed forensic center on a site other than Western Reserve Psychiatric Habilitation Center. Plaintiffs subsequently joined in said motion and moved the Court to receive into evidence, as plaintiffs' exhibit 217, the deposition of George Gintoli. This deposition was admitted by entry of July 24, 1978 and the motions to re-open the record are hereby granted.

On April 24, 1979, plaintiffs moved the Court for a temporary restraining order enjoining any further construction of a fence or installation of security devices in or around cottage 21 of Western Reserve Psychiatric Habilitation Center until defendants meet certain conditions. A hearing thereon was duly held on April 25, 26, and 30, 1979. By Order of May 14, 1979, said motion was denied.

Upon consideration of the entire record herein, the Court enters its findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by Rule 52(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The origins of official involvement by the State of Ohio in the care and treatment of the mentally ill can be traced to the early nineteenth century. As early as 1815, the legislature of Ohio passed a law providing for the examination of those persons alleged to be insane and for the care of their persons and property. Approximately six years later, the state appropriated $10,000 toward the establishment and support of the first state-funded asylum for the mentally ill, the "Commercial Hospital and Lunatic Asylum for the State of Ohio" in Cincinnati. Although primarily a county institution, the state contributed regularly to its maintenance.

Thereafter in 1938, the first state institution for the care of the insane was authorized to be located in Columbus, Ohio. Admissions to said institution, however, were limited to curable cases only.

The Constitution of the State of Ohio of 1851 provided that "institutions for the benefit of the insane, blind, and deaf and dumb, shall always be fostered and supported by the state." In adopting this provision, the state recognized and accepted responsibility for the care and treatment of the mentally ill in Ohio. As a result, the state hospital system was developed during the latter half of the 19th century. Such was apparently a humanitarian and progressive move at that time, and represented a marked improvement in the treatment and care of the mentally ill.

Thus following legislative action in 1852, facilities were increased at the institution for the insane in Columbus. Thereafter state hospitals were established at Cleveland and Dayton in 1855, at Athens in 1874, at Toledo in 1888, and at Massillon in 1898. Hawthornden was initially operated as a farm for the Cleveland State Hospital from 1922 until 1938 at which time it began receiving patients transferred from other facilities. In 1941, however, Hawthornden State Hospital was established as a separate institution for the mentally ill. Its name was changed to Western Reserve Psychiatric Habilitation Center in 1975. (Dx Y-1).

WESTERN RESERVE PSYCHIATRIC HABILITATION CENTER

Western Reserve Psychiatric Habilitation Center hereinafter Western Reserve is a state owned and operated hospital for the care and treatment of the chronically mentally ill. It provides long-term psychiatric and physical care for residents of four of Ohio's 88 counties, namely Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Lorain. Located approximately 16 miles from both Akron and Cleveland, Western Reserve occupies over 70 of the 600 acres purchased by the State of Ohio in 1923. Since that time 40 buildings have been erected in a campuslike manner with the intended purpose of providing residential, hospital, and administrative services...