Chandler v. Baird, 90-5322

CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)
Citation926 F.2d 1057
Docket NumberNo. 90-5322,90-5322
PartiesJim Eric CHANDLER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Captain William BAIRD, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
Decision Date15 March 1991

James K. Green, Green, Eisenberg & Cohen, West Palm Beach, Fla., Charlann Jackson, Florida Rural Legal Services, Bartow, Fla., Randall C. Berg, Jr., Florida Justice Institution, Miami, Fla., for plaintiff-appellant.

Keith C. Tischler, Parker, Skelding, Labasky & Corry, Tallahassee, Fla., for defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Before CLARK and BIRCH, Circuit Judges, and COFFIN *, Senior Circuit Judge.

COFFIN, Senior Circuit Judge:

This appeal presents several challenges arising out of the sixteen-day restricted confinement of a prisoner, Jim Eric Chandler. In his pro se complaint Chandler asserted the following illegal actions: a violation of procedural due process in his being confined without advance notice of charges against him and opportunity to rebut them; violation of unspecified rules and regulations; violation of the Eighth Amendment in the conditions of his confinement; and deprivation of his constitutional right to legal materials and access to courts. The district court granted summary judgment on all counts for defendants, officials of a Florida county jail, the Indian River Detention Facility. We affirm its action in all respects save plaintiff's challenge to the conditions of his confinement. As to this, we cannot say, on this record and at this stage of the proceedings, that defendants should prevail as a matter of law. We therefore remand for further proceedings.

For a combination of reasons, plaintiff was lodged in the Indian River county jail for some two-and-one-half years awaiting resentencing for a capital offense. Until the time of the events relevant to this appeal, he resided in cell block "B" with eleven other inmates. On August 17, 1986, however, an inmate informed an officer that eight other inmates, with plaintiff as their ringleader, were planning an escape that might involve many others. The plan was to assault an officer, obtain his keys, and then remove cell bars by twisting a sheet, using a book as a lever. Later that day an officer was indeed attacked by an inmate wielding a sack stuffed with dominoes.

Although the escape attempt aborted, Captain Baird, administrator of the jail, feared further attempts. In light of the identification of plaintiff as ringleader, and knowing that Chandler had recently drawn down his commissary account from an average level of $50 to ten cents and sent his years' accumulation of legal materials to his father, Baird ordered plaintiff committed to administrative confinement pending a criminal investigation. Plaintiff was taken on August 20 to a strip cell in "F" Block. On August 21, he was moved to "S" Block and placed in a solitary confinement cell, where he remained until September 5, 1986, when he was transferred to another facility closer to his resentencing hearing.

The complaint set forth six causes of action. On appeal, plaintiff asserts that the district court erred in resolving issues of fact in granting summary judgment on four of these causes. Specifically, he argues that summary judgment was inappropriate on his claims that he was denied procedural due process in the imposition of his confinement (count three), that he was deprived of meaningful access to the courts (counts four and five), and that he was subjected to unconstitutional conditions in his confinement (count one). 1 As to each issue, defendants both defend on the merits and invoke qualified immunity.

Procedural Due Process

Plaintiff alleged that he was deprived of procedural due process when he was not notified of the charges that were the basis for his placement in administrative confinement, and was given no opportunity to defend and no hearing, contrary to the rules and regulations of the Florida Department of Corrections. The district court held that Parker v. Cook, 642 F.2d 865, 875 (5th Cir.1981), established the principle that placing an inmate in administrative confinement in a Florida prison implicated a liberty interest triggering the requirement of procedural due process. The court then ruled, however, that defendant jail officials enjoyed qualified immunity because the evidence indicated that neither official "understood" that he was violating any of plaintiff's constitutional rights.

Leaving aside the arguable reading that the court was making findings of fact as to defendants' understanding--which would be inconsistent with a ruling on a motion for summary judgment--we observe that the court somehow found itself basing qualified immunity upon the subjective state of mind of defendants. This, of course, is contrary to the teaching of Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982), which sets forth an objective test under which "government officials performing discretionary functions, generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." See also Rich v. Dollar, 841 F.2d 1558, 1563 (11th Cir.1988).

We, however, choose not to decide the issue on the basis of defendants' entitlement to qualified immunity because we find that Chandler was not deprived of a liberty interest. The Supreme Court has made it clear that the Due Process Clause does not directly protect an inmate from changes in the conditions of his confinement, see Meachum v. Fano, 427 U.S. 215, 224, 96 S.Ct. 2532, 2538, 49 L.Ed.2d 451 (1976), as long as the condition to which the prisoner is subjected is not otherwise violative of the Constitution or outside the sentence imposed upon him, Montanye v. Haymes, 427 U.S. 236, 242, 96 S.Ct. 2543, 2547, 49 L.Ed.2d 466 (1976). Nor does the Due Process Clause itself create "an interest in being confined to a general population cell, rather than the more austere and restrictive administrative segregation quarters." Hewitt v. Helms, 459 U.S. 460, 466, 103 S.Ct. 864, 869, 74 L.Ed.2d 675 (1983). See also Sheley v. Dugger, 833 F.2d 1420, 1424 (11th Cir.1987). A state may, however, create a liberty interest which is protected by the Due Process Clause, see Meachum, 427 U.S. at 226, 96 S.Ct. at 2539, and does so "by placing substantive limitations on official discretion," Olim v. Wakinekona, 461 U.S. 238, 249, 103 S.Ct. 1741, 1747, 75 L.Ed.2d 813 (1983).

The Court has articulated two components of such substantive limitations: "specific substantive predicates" to guide state decisionmakers and "repeated use of mandatory language." Hewitt, 459 U.S. at 472, 103 S.Ct. at 871. See also Kentucky Dept. of Corrections v. Thompson, 490 U.S. 454, 109 S.Ct. 1904, 1909-10, 104 L.Ed.2d 506 (1989). At issue in this case is solely whether the language invoked by Chandler is sufficiently mandatory to create a liberty interest.

We are dealing with that section of the Florida Administrative Code governing county and municipal detention facilities, Rule 33-8.013. After prescribing disciplinary procedures to be followed when an infraction of rules occurs, including a report, an investigation, a 24-hour advance notice of charges to inmates accused of infractions, and a hearing with the possibility of witnesses and assistance for the inmate, subparagraph (13) states in relevant part:

Inmates may be placed in administrative confinement for the purpose of ensuring immediate control and supervision when it is determined they constitute a threat to themselves, to others, or to the safety and security of the detention facility. Each such action shall be followed by an incident or disciplinary report and formal disciplinary proceedings, if applicable, as outlined in the above section.

(Emphasis supplied.) We note that the Parker case, 642 F.2d 865, on which the district court relied, does not control this case. Parker was decided before both Hewitt and Kentucky Dept. of Corrections and dealt with other provisions of the Florida Administrative Code relating to state prisons. See Fla.Admin.Code Ann. R. 33-3.08. 2 We therefore must assay the specific language involved here to see if it is mandatory within the meaning of Hewitt and Kentucky Dept. of Corrections.

Under the procedural language at issue in Hewitt, once the basic determination is made to place an inmate in administrative custody,

The inmate shall be notified in writing as soon as possible that he is under investigation and that he will receive a hearing if any disciplinary action is being considered after the investigation is completed. An investigation shall begin immediately.... If no behavior violation has occurred, the inmate must be released as soon as the reason for the security concern has abated but in all cases within ten days.

Id. 459 U.S. at 471 n. 6, 103 S.Ct. at 871 n. 6. As the Court noted, this is "language of an unmistakably mandatory character, requiring that certain procedures 'shall,' 'will,' or 'must' be employed." Id. at 471, 103 S.Ct. at 871. In the case at bar, all that the code tells us is that after an inmate is placed in administrative confinement, such action shall be followed by a report "and formal disciplinary proceedings, if applicable, as outlined in the above section." What this seems to indicate is that if, following the imposition of administrative confinement, an investigation leads to the levying of charges, the procedures applicable to disciplinary infractions shall be invoked. But if an inmate's administrative confinement is unconnected with the disciplinary process, e.g., if he were confined for his own protection, there would be no requirement for further proceedings. As in Kentucky Dept. of Corrections, 109 S.Ct. 1904, these provisions lack "the requisite relevant mandatory language," id. at 1910, to create a liberty...

To continue reading

Request your trial
191 cases
  • Skundor v. Coleman, Civil Action No. 5:02-0205 (S.D. W.Va. 7/31/2003), Civil Action No. 5:02-0205.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 4th Circuit. Southern District of West Virginia
    • 31 Julio 2003
    ...from extreme cold can constitute an Eighth Amendment violation. Dixon v. Godinez, 114 F.3d 640, 642 (7th Cir. 1997) Chandler v. Baird, 926 F.2d 1057, 1064-65 (11th Cir. 1991); McCray v. Burrell, 516 F.2d 357, 365-68 (4th Cir. 1975) (Eighth Amendment violation found where inmate was solitari......
  • Waring v. Meachum, Civ. No. 3:93 CV 1590(PCD).
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Court (Connecticut)
    • 24 Agosto 2001
    ...Dixon v. Godinez, 114 F.3d 640, 642 (7th Cir.1997) ("prisoners have a right to protection from extreme cold"); Chandler v. Baird, 926 F.2d 1057, 1064-65 (11th Cir.1991). Although prisoners have a constitutional right to adequate heating in times of cold weather, they must still show that th......
  • Mitchell v. Rouse, CASE NO. 2:11-CV-1101-WHA [WO]
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. Middle District of Alabama
    • 9 Febrero 2015
    ...claim fails because plaintiff did not show he had been denied the capability to pursue nonfrivolous legal claims); Chandler v. Baird, 926 F.2d 1057 (11th Cir. 1991) (An inmateis entitled to no relief on an access to courts claim in "the absence of any indications of ultimate prejudice or di......
  • Magwood v. Beem, Case No. 4:14cv314-MW/CAS
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. Northern District of Florida
    • 27 Enero 2015
    ...sadistic desire to cause Plaintiff harm but as part of discipline. Plaintiff's case is also similar to claims raised in Chandler v. Baird, 926 F.2d 1057 (11th Cir. 1991). There the plaintiff alleged that he was subject to following conditions of restrictive confinement which he claimed "vio......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT