Powell v. Ward
| Decision Date | 04 March 1981 |
| Docket Number | 80-2141-2162,Nos. 522-3,s. 522-3 |
| Citation | 643 F.2d 924 |
| Parties | Elizabeth POWELL, Dalree Mapp, Katherine Purrington, Althea McDaniels, Paula Herbert, Cyndi Reed, and Margaret Gatling, on Behalf of Themselves and all Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs-Appellees-Cross-Appellants, v. Benjamin WARD, Individually and as Commissioner of Correctional Services, Janice Warne, Individually and as Superintendent of Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, and Phyllis Joan Curry, Individually and as Superintendent of Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, Defendants-Appellants-Cross-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Judith A. Gordon, Asst. Atty. Gen., New York City for defendants-appellants-cross-appellees.
Elizabeth L. Koob, Michael D. Hampden, New York City (James S. Braude, New York City) for plaintiffs-appellees-cross-appellants.
Before KAUFMAN, KEARSE and BRIGHT, * Circuit Judges.
Defendants-Appellants appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Charles E. Stewart, Judge, dated April 29, 1980, as amended by an order dated May 1, 1980 ("the 1980 Order"), 487 F.Supp. 917, holding defendant Phyllis Joan Curry in civil contempt of a preliminary injunction entered June 23, 1975, as modified by this Court on appeal, 542 F.2d 101 (2d Cir. 1976) ("1975 Order" or "Order"). The 1980 Order imposed a fine on Curry, ordered the appointment of a special master to oversee future compliance with the 1975 Order, ordered the expungement of certain records, and awarded plaintiffs damages in the amount of $1 and reasonable attorneys' fees. Plaintiffs have cross-appealed, contending, inter alia, that Curry should have been held in criminal contempt, that the expungement order was too limited, and that plaintiffs were entitled to a larger award of damages.
We modify the 1980 Order with respect to the period for which records are to be expunged and, as thus modified, we affirm.
The plaintiffs and the class they represent are inmates at New York's Bedford Hills Correctional Facility ("Bedford Hills") who moved for an order holding defendant Curry, the present Superintendent of Bedford Hills, in contempt of the court's 1975 Order governing disciplinary proceedings against inmates at Bedford Hills. The circumstances that gave rise to the 1975 Order are fully set forth in the prior opinions in this case, 392 F.Supp. 628 (S.D.N.Y.1975), affirmed as modified, 542 F.2d 101 (2d Cir. 1976), familiarity with which is assumed.
The 1975 Order was designed to require that, in disciplining inmates, defendants comply with the procedural requirements set forth in Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974). 1 The types of discipline that were the focus of the Order are those that could result in any of the various "special" confinements that exist at Bedford Hills. Special confinements can result from either an Adjustment Committee or a Superintendent's Proceeding, 2 and can take the form of solitary confinement in a Segregation Unit, restricted freedom in a Special Housing Unit 3 or the loss of right to leave a prison cell, called "keeplock." 4 487 F.Supp. at 925. The 1975 Order provided, in pertinent part, as follows:
1. Defendants shall conduct all Adjustment Committee or Superintendent's Proceedings, or other disciplinary proceedings that may result in an inmate at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility being confined in a Special Housing Unit or Segregation Unit, in accordance with the following procedures:
a) Formal written notice of charges must be served on the inmate at least 24 hours before the hearing;
b) The inmate shall be permitted to call witnesses on her behalf provided that so doing does not jeopardize institutional safety or correctional goals. The written notice of charges served in accordance with Paragraph 1(a), shall inform the inmate of her right to call witnesses;
c) If permission to call a witness is denied, the party conducting the hearing shall give the inmate a written statement stating the reasons for the denial, including the specific threat to institutional safety or correctional goals presented by the witness.
d) At the conclusion of the hearing, the inmate shall be given a written statement of the evidence relied on and the reasons for any action taken;
e) No person who has participated in any investigation of the acts complained of, or who was a witness to those acts shall be a member of any Adjustment Committee or Superintendent's Proceeding relating to those acts;
2. If any inmate is confined to Special Housing or segregation "pending investigation" of charges, a hearing must be held within seven days of the date of her confinement. In unusual or emergency situations, the seven-day requirement may be extended but only with the permission of the Commissioner of Correctional Services or his designee.
The present motion for contempt and other relief on behalf of the class was filed in the spring of 1979. Plaintiffs contended that defendants had failed to follow the procedures mandated by the 1975 Order with respect to Adjustment Committee Proceedings and Superintendent's Proceedings.
The district court held several days of hearings on plaintiffs' motion; nine members of the plaintiff class testified; more than a dozen affidavits were submitted; approximately 500 pages of documents were received in evidence. After evaluating all the evidence, Judge Stewart found, in a thorough and thoughtful opinion, that Curry had "failed to comply in significant respects with virtually every provision of our order." 487 F.Supp. at 933. In particular the court found that the 1975 Order had been violated in the following respects:
(1) Adjustment Committee Proceedings : Despite the express mention of the Adjustment Committee in paragraph 1 of the 1975 Order, defendants had made no effort to conduct any of the Adjustment Committee Proceedings in accordance with the procedures mandated by the 1975 Order.
(2) Notice of Charges : Defendants had failed to give inmates notices that adequately disclosed the substance of the offenses with which they were charged, 5 in violation of P 1(a) of the 1975 Order. The only specification of the nature of the offense charged was citation to a code number; to find out what offense is covered by the code number an inmate must refer to the "Standards of Inmate Behavior" rule book, which (a) is not always readily available to inmates, (b) often lists categories of offenses in general or ambiguous terms, and (c) is subject to varying interpretations by different prison officials.
(3) Witnesses : Defendants had failed to notify inmates that they may call witnesses to testify in their behalf, in violation of P 1(b) of the 1975 Order. In addition, witnesses were not allowed to be present at the hearing. To the extent that defendants interviewed witnesses requested by inmates they did so outside the presence of the inmate and tape-recorded all or part of the interview; they did not normally incorporate the interview into the record of the hearing and they did not allow the inmate to hear the tape or see a transcript of the interview. The court ruled that P 1(b) must be interpreted to allow witnesses to be present at disciplinary proceedings unless the appropriate officials determine that this would jeopardize institutional safety or correctional goals; in the latter circumstances, a written explanation must be given to the inmate.
(4) Explanation of Denial of Request for Witnesses : Defendants had not given inmates written statements of their reasons for denying requests for witnesses, in violation of P 1(c) of the 1975 Order. The court rejected defendants' contention that explanation is required only when the denial is based on grounds of institutional safety or correctional goals.
(5) Statement of Evidence and Reasons for Disposition : Defendants had failed, at the close of any Adjustment Committee Proceeding and at the close of some Superintendent's Proceedings, to give written statements specifying the evidence relied on and the reasons for any action taken, in violation of P 1(d) of the 1975 Order. Some of the written statements that had been given following Superintendent's Proceedings had been inadequate to disclose the evidence relied on.
(6) Membership of the Hearing Committee : Defendants had allowed hearing officers to conduct investigations of the acts complained of, and had allowed persons involved in the relevant incident to preside over the inmates' hearing, in violation of P 1(e) of the 1975 Order.
(7) Hearings Within Seven Days of Confinement : Defendants had kept inmates confined in special units for periods substantially longer than seven days "pending investigation" of charges, in violation of P 2 of the 1975 Order. The court rejected defendants' contention that inmates could be kept so confined indefinitely "pending investigation" so long as a hearing was commenced within seven days of the initial confinement.
(8) Notice in Spanish for Spanish Speaking Inmates : Defendants had given notices and statements only in English although several inmates testified that they did not speak or understand English and could not fully understand what went on at the hearing. The court therefore clarified the 1975 Order to specify that due process requires that Spanish speaking inmates who cannot read and understand English be given notices and statements in Spanish. 6
On the basis of these findings the court concluded that although nearly five years had passed since the 1975 Order was issued, "the due process violations that were enjoined at that time are still widespread." 487 F.Supp. at 935. The court...
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