Crawford v. Clarke

• Decision Date: 24 August 2009
• Docket Number: No. 08-2100.,08-2100.
• Citation: 578 F.3d 39
• Parties: Antwan CRAWFORD; Darrick Wilson; Anthony Tucker, Plaintiffs, Mac S. Hudson; Derrick Tyler, Plaintiffs, Appellees, v. Harold W. CLARKE, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, Defendant, Appellant, Kathleen Dennehy, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

578 F.3d 39

Antwan CRAWFORD; Darrick Wilson; Anthony Tucker, Plaintiffs Mac S. Hudson; Derrick Tyler, Plaintiffs, Appellees, v. Harold W. CLARKE, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, Defendant, Appellant Kathleen Dennehy, Defendant.

No. 08-2100.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard May 6, 2009.

Decided August 24, 2009.

Richard C. McFarland, Legal Division, Department of Correction, with whom Nancy Ankers White, Special Assistant Attorney General, was on brief for appellant Harold W. Clarke.

Michael Kendall, with whom Neal E. Minahan, David Quinn Gacioch, and McDermott Will & Emery LLP, were on brief for appellees Hudson and Tyler.

Before TORRUELLA, and SELYA, Circuit Judges, and TASHIMA,^* Senior Circuit Judge.

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge.

The Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction (the "DOC") appeals an injunction entered in favor of the plaintiffs-appellees Mac S. Hudson and Derrick Tyler (together, the "Plaintiffs"). After careful consideration, we affirm.

The Plaintiffs are Muslim inmates in the custody of the DOC. In 2001, they filed a non-class action complaint, later amended, asserting that the Commissioner violated their right to freely exercise their religion.

At issue in this appeal is the ability to participate in Jum'ah, which is "a Friday group prayer that is obligatory for Muslims." Hudson v. Dennehy, 538 F.Supp.2d 400, 404 n. 4 (D.Mass.2008). At the time of the filing of their Amended Complaint, the Plaintiffs were housed in an special management unit ("SMU") at MCI-Cedar Junction known as "Ten Block." SMUs are housing units separate from the general population of the prison "in which inmates may be confined for reasons of administrative segregation, protective custody, or disciplinary detention." 103 Mass.Code Regs. 423.06. Plaintiffs alleged that, "[w]hile segregated, [they] are denied the right to attend mandatory Jumah services." They further alleged that "[p]risoners with televisions may participate in the prison's Jumah services, which are broadcast via closed-circuit televisions," but that "[t]he DOC presently denies [the Plaintiffs] access to a television and, therefore, access to Jumah services." In their prayer for relief, the Plaintiffs sought "a permanent injunction ordering Defendant ... to allow Plaintiff to attend all Jumah services either in person or via closed-circuit television."

The district court conducted a six-day bench trial concerning Plaintiffs' claims.¹ After trial, the district court applied the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA"), which provides that:

No government shall impose a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person residing in or confined to an institution, as defined in [42 U.S.C. § 1997], even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, unless the government demonstrates that imposition of the burden on that person—

(1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and

(2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.

42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-1(a). The district court ruled that "[t]he DOC's ban on personal participation in Jum'ah services by inmates confined in Ten Block serves the compelling State interest of rehabilitating prisoners and promoting good order." Hudson, 538 F.Supp.2d at 412. However, the court further ruled that "[t]he ban on participation by Ten Block inmates in Jum'ah services by closed-circuit television is not the least restrictive means of vindicating" the compelling state interests of the DOC, noting that "the DOC does not contend that there is any technical reason that prevents the broadcast of Jum'ah services by closed-circuit television to Muslim inmates in Ten Block." Id. at 412 & n. 24.

The district court later entered an injunction requiring closed-circuit broadcasting of Jum'ah "[w]henever Plaintiffs are housed in the Special Management Unit,"² not limiting its injunction to the SMU at MCI-Cedar Junction. When the Commissioner sought clarification, the district court confirmed that the injunction required closed circuit television broadcasts of Jum'ah services in any SMU in which Plaintiffs may be housed in the future.

The Commissioner then moved for reconsideration, attaching the affidavit of Jeffrey Quick, the DOC's Director of Resource Management (the "Quick Affidavit"). The Quick Affidavit outlined the significant technical, operational, physical plant, and cost impediments to providing closed-circuit television broadcasts to certain SMUs located at prisons other than MCI-Cedar Junction. The Quick Affidavit further noted that Tyler was "presently incarcerated in the general population of MCI-Cedar Junction," and that Hudson was "presently incarcerated at [Old Colony Correctional Center] and is housed in the general population."

That same day, the district court denied the motion for reconsideration, stating:

After hearing, the motion is denied without prejudice. Plaintiff Hudson is currently confined in general population at the Old Colony Correctional Facility. Accordingly, there is no actual controversy appropriate for judicial resolution.

The Commissioner subsequently filed a notice of appeal that listed only the denial of the motion for reconsideration.

As an initial matter, the Plaintiffs contend that the only decision on appeal is the district court's denial of the Commissioner's motion for reconsideration. They point out that Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 3 provides that "[t]he notice of appeal must ... designate the judgment, order, or part thereof being appealed," Fed. R.App. P. 3(c)(1)(B), and the notice of appeal here only lists the denial of the motion for reconsideration.³ Indeed, "an appeal from an order denying such a motion is generally not considered to be an appeal from the underlying judgment." Chamorro v. Puerto Rican Cars, Inc., 304 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir.2002) (discussing a motion for reconsideration).

However, "our precedents encourage us to construe notices of appeal liberally and examine them in the context of the record as a whole." Id. Although the notice of appeal only lists the denial of the motion for reconsideration, it references the "Final Judgment with Regard to Broadcast of Jum'ah Services in Special Management Units Other Than Ten Block." "Read in context, this reference is consistent with a desire to have this court review the propriety of the" injunction with respect to Jum'ah services. Id. at 4 (noting that notice of appeal only listing denial of motion for reconsideration also referenced dismissal for want of prosecution, which reflected an intent to reach the dismissal). Moreover, "both sides have fully briefed the merits, and undertaking appellate review of the original order ... would not unfairly prejudice" the Plaintiffs. See id. Although we recognize that "rescue missions are not automatic, and litigants will do well to draft notices of appeal with care," we will give the Commissioner the benefit of the doubt and treat the injunction itself as properly before us. Id. at 3.

"[T]he scope of [an] injunction is reviewed for abuse of discretion." Esso Standard Oil Co. v. López-Freytes, 522 F.3d 136, 142-43 (1st Cir.2008). The Commissioner contends that the district court erred by entering a prospective injunction that applies to all SMUs without making findings as to whether SMUs other than Ten Block are suitable for closed circuit television broadcasts of Ju'mah services. Thus, according to the Commissioner, the prospective injunction violates the Prison Litigation Reform Act (the "PLRA"), which requires "prospective relief" to be "narrowly drawn, extend[] no further than necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right, and [be] the least intrusive means necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right." 18 U.S.C. § 3626(a)(1)(A). The Commissioner also relies on RLUIPA, contending that the DOC can demonstrate that it has a "compelling governmental interest" in not providing closed circuit broadcasting of Ju'mah services to SMUs other than Ten Block given the high cost of providing such services, see Baranowski v. Hart, 486 F.3d 112, 125 (5th Cir.2007) (compelling interest standard met under RLUIPA when prison budget not adequate to cover Kosher meals), and the resultant imposition such a requirement would put on the Commissioner's discretion to assign the Plaintiffs to different facilities.

We conclude that the...