US v. State of Mich.
| Decision Date | 27 July 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. G84-63.,G84-63. |
| Citation | 680 F. Supp. 928 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. STATE OF MICHIGAN, James J. Blanchard, Governor of Michigan, Michigan Corrections Commission; Gwen Andrew, Chairman, Michigan Corrections Commission, Thomas Eardley, G. Robert Cotton, Dwayne Waters, Don Le Duc, Members, Michigan Corrections Commission, Michigan Department of Corrections, Perry M. Johnson, Director, Michigan Department of Corrections, Robert Brown, Jr., Deputy Director, Michigan Department of Corrections, Dale Foltz, Regional Administrator, State Prison of Southern Michigan, John Jabe, Warden, Michigan Reformatory, Theodore Koehler, Warden, Marquette Branch Prison, John Prelesnik, Administrator, Reception and Guidance Center, State Prison of Southern Michigan, and Jack Bergman, Administrator, Michigan Intensive Programming Center, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan |
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Arthur E. Peabody, Jr., Chief, Special Litigation Section, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Civil Rights Div., Washington, D.C., by Andrew J. Barrick, for plaintiff.
Patricia A. Streeter, Detroit, Mich., for amicus curiae Hadix plaintiffs.
Elizabeth Alexander, Adjoa Aiyetoro, for National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, Washington, D.C.
William Fette, Kalamazoo, Mich., for Michigan American Civil Liberties Union Foundation.
Frank J. Kelly, Atty. Gen., State of Mich., Lansing, Mich., by Thomas Nelson, Brian MacKenzie, for defendants.
(Through July 27, 1987)
INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT AND TABLE OF CONTENTS
The following is a collection of opinions the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan has issued in the case of United States v. Michigan, No. G84-63. The United States Department of Justice filed the case on January 18, 1984 under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1997-1997j, following a two-year investigation into conditions in three Michigan prisons. On July 13, 1984 the Court approved a Consent Decree setting forth the parties' agreement to settle the suit. The Court has been overseeing the implementation of the Consent Decree for the past three years, during which time it has conducted numerous hearings on compliance issues and has issued numerous opinions. The opinions that are labeled "bench opinion" were issued from the bench during those hearings. The Court has not edited these opinions; what appears in written form here was taken almost verbatim from the transcripts of the hearings. The reader accordingly occasionally may find it difficult to follow the bench opinions. The Court felt, however, that it should remain faithful to the actual record of the case.
6. Bench Opinion of August 21, 1985 Extending the Parties' Stipulation; Denying the Knop Amicus' Motion to Amend the State Plan; and Denying the United States' Request for Sanctions Against the Knop Amicus, page 957.
7. October 2, 1985 Appointment of F. Warren Benton as Independent Expert and Order for Instructions, page 962.
8. Opinion of December 2, 1985 Denying the Hadix Plaintiffs' Request to Exclude the Central Complex and the Reception and Guidance Center from Coverage Under the Consent Decree, page 964.
9. Bench Opinion of February 13, 1986 Denying Defendants' Motion to Modify the State Plan Regarding a Mental Health Plan and Granting the United States' Motion to Enforce the Consent Decree Regarding Mental Health, page 970.
10. Order of February 21, 1986 Establishing Supplementary Mental Health Care Requirements, page 978.
11. Memorandum Opinion and Order of March 19, 1986 Regarding an Independent Psychiatric Expert, page 983.
12. Bench Opinion of March 27, 1986 Allowing Knop Amicus to Present Witnesses and Appointing an Independent Psychiatric Expert, page 984.
13. Order of April 2, 1986 Appointing an Independent Psychiatric Expert, page 988.
14. Memorandum Opinion and Order of April 3, 1986 Granting Defendants' Motion to Modify in Part, page 988.
15. Bench Opinion of May 9, 1986 Granting United States' Motion for Relief and Sanctions Regarding Mental Health; Denying United States' Motion to Terminate the Authority of the Independent Expert; and Rejecting Parties' Stipulation Clarifying Issues Under the Consent Decree, page 989.
16. Order of May 12, 1986 Granting the United States' Motion for Relief and Sanctions, page 999.
17. Order of June 30, 1986 Extending and Revising the Independent Expert's Order of Appointment, page 1001.
18. Opinion of July 15, 1986 Interpreting Certain Provisions of the Consent Decree and the State Plan for Compliance, page 1001.
19. Opinion of July 15, 1986 Granting in Part and Denying in Part Defendants' Motion for Relief from Order, page 1005.
20. Opinion of July 22, 1986 Regarding March 1986 Compliance Hearing, page 1007.
21. Order of July 22, 1986 Granting Plaintiffs' Motion for Order Enforcing Consent Decree and Stipulation, page 1015.
22. Opinion of August 29, 1986 Scheduling a Mental Health Hearing, page 1018.
23. Opinion of August 29, 1986 Resolving Various Motions, page 1019.
24. Opinion of September 26, 1986 Extending Authority of Independent Psychiatric Expert, page 1021.
25. Bench Opinion of October 24, 1986 Purging the Defendants of Contempt Regarding Mental Health, page 1022.
26. Order of October 29, 1986 Purging Defendants of Contempt, page 1025. 27. Opinion and Order of January 29, 1987 Enforcing the Fire Safety Provisions of the Consent Decree, the State Plan for Compliance, and the Stipulation, and Granting Defendants' Request for Modification of the State Plan, page 1025.
28. Opinion of March 27, 1987 Modifying in Part the Parties' Stipulation Regarding Mental Health Care, page 1037.
29. Show Cause Order of April 1, 1987 Regarding Overcrowding, page 1038.
30. Opinion of May 8, 1987 Enforcing the Medical Care Requirements of the Consent Decree, the State Plan for Compliance, and the Stipulation, page 1039.
31. Bench Opinion of May 21, 1987 Issuing Temporary Restraining Order Regarding Overcrowding at the Reception and Guidance Center, page 1045.
32. May 22, 1987 Temporary Restraining Order, page 1047.
33. Bench Opinion of May 22, 1987 Finding the Defendants in Contempt of Court Regarding Overcrowding at the Decree Institutions, page 1047.
34. Order of May 28, 1987 Holding Defendants in Contempt of Court, page 1053.
35. Opinion of July 2, 1987 Scheduling Mental Health Hearing, page 1054.
36. Opinion of July 20, 1987 Denying Pro Se Motion to Intervene and Motion for Order of Contempt, page 1055.
37. Opinion and Order of July 28, 1987 Enforcing Provisions of the Consent Decree, the State Plan for Compliance, and the Stipulation Regarding Overcrowding and Protection from Harm and Sanitation, Safety, and Hygiene, page 1056.
The Court has before it two motions. One is the motion to intervene on behalf of the Hadix plaintiffs, so-called Hadix plaintiffs, or in the alternative for status as amicus curiae. And the motion on behalf of the A.C.L.U. group, to be amicus curiae only, and, of course, the Hadix interest is only in a portion of the proposed consent decree. That is to say, the Jackson Prison portion. I am taking the Hadix motion first, since that is the way that we listened to arguments. The Hadix applicant or applicants move for grant of intervention pursuant to Rule 24(a)(2). They are the plaintiff class in an action pending in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, before Judge John Feikens, Chief Judge, styled Hadix, et al. vs. Johnson, et al. That suit as I understand it is against various officials of the State of Michigan Department of Corrections and the State Prison of Southern Michigan at Jackson only. They are not involved, as I indicated earlier, in the Ionia or Marquette situation.
Pursuant to an order of the court in Hadix, the applicant claims, the Michigan Attorney General representing the defendant was ordered to appear to explain the relationship if any existing between the proposed consent decree herein and the Hadix case. In fact, I had first heard about the Hadix interest by means of a letter from counsel for Hadix, and later, and I responded to that letter, and to counsel for all sides with a copy of the letter to Judge Feikens. I think that may have been in January or perhaps early February. On February 16, 1984, the applicants claim Elaine Fischhoff took the position in the open courtroom that the proposed decree will not be made the basis for a legal claim of mootness as to any similar constitutional issues in Hadix, but that it may have an impact on the negotiations and possible litigation in Hadix. The transcript never arrived, and I don't know what was said. But, I have heard Mr. Quinn's representation, and I have heard Mr. Bennett's representation. I am not so sure that it makes any difference.
Applicants state in the written motion that based upon the statement of the Attorney General they ought to be entitled to intervention herein as a matter of right. They contend, as I understand it, that they seek intervention for the sole...
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Knop v. Johnson
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U.S. v. State of Mich.
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Table of Cases
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