Wolfel v. Morris

Decision Date23 September 1992
Docket Number91-4142,91-3661,Nos. 91-3607,s. 91-3607
Citation972 F.2d 712
PartiesDennis M. WOLFEL; John Perotti; John Byrd; and Jay D. Scott (91-3661), Plaintiffs-Appellees, Cross-Appellants, v. Terry L. MORRIS; Wayne Walters; Charles Schramm; Richard Taylor; and Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (91-3607/4142), Defendants-Appellants, Cross-Appellees.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Alphonse A. Gerhardstein (argued and briefed), Laufman, Rauh & Gerhardstein, Cincinnati, Ohio, for plaintiffs-appellees, cross-appellants.

Christian B. Stegeman, Asst. Atty. Gen. (argued and briefed), Office of the Atty. Gen., Federal Litigation Section, Cincinnati, Ohio, for defendants-appellants, cross-appellees.

John Perotti, pro se.

Before: GUY and BOGGS, Circuit Judges; and RONEY, Senior Circuit Judge. *

BOGGS, Circuit Judge.

The plaintiffs in this case are inmates who were punished by prison officials for circulating a petition aimed at redressing their grievances against the conditions at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. The district court granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs, ruling that the prison regulations used to punish the plaintiffs were unconstitutionally vague as applied here. The court ordered that the records of the inmates be expunged of the discipline imposed as a result of these charges. The court held, however, that the plaintiffs were not entitled to money damages. In addition, the court granted a 100% enhancement of its award of fees to the plaintiffs' attorney.

The plaintiffs and the defendants challenge various aspects of the district court's summary judgment opinion in this case. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the district court except that we reverse its granting an enhancement of the fee award. With respect to the district court's denial of the plaintiffs' request for monetary damages, we agree with the court's denial of such damages but for a different reason than that given by the district court. We hold that the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity for their actions in this case.

I

The plaintiffs are inmates at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility ("SOCF"). In June 1988, they attempted to circulate petitions among their fellow inmates. The petitions complained of alleged human rights violations at the SOCF and the inmates intended to send these petitions to Amnesty International. The inmates, however, circulated only the signature pages of the petitions. The purpose of the list of names being circulated was not apparent, therefore, to the guards who seized it. Defendants, SOCF guards and officials, seized the signatures intended to support the petitions and charged the plaintiffs with possession of, conspiracy to possess, or attempt to possess contraband in violation of Ohio Admin.Code § 5120-9-06(E). The petitions were deemed to be contraband because the circulation of a petition is a group-organizing activity, and because the plaintiffs had failed to seek approval through Warden Morris for the formation of an "inmate group," in violation of Ohio Admin.Code § 5120-9-37. Plaintiffs Wolfel, Scott and Perotti were found guilty of these violations and disciplined. Plaintiff Byrd was found not guilty.

This suit was originally filed pro se, but counsel was eventually appointed for the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs moved for partial summary judgment, intending to reserve their right to a hearing on damages. The defendants also moved for summary judgment. The district court assigned the case to a magistrate, who recommended that judgment be entered in favor of the three plaintiffs who had been punished and that their prison records be expunged of all evidence of this incident. The magistrate recommended that damages be denied. The district court adopted the recommendation regarding liability against the defendants, the expungement of the plaintiffs' records and the denial of money damages to the plaintiffs.

The district court found that the defendants had been sued in both their individual and official capacities. The court also found that the defendants did not violate the plaintiffs' due process rights by refusing to permit them to circulate the petition among fellow inmates. However, the court ruled that punishment of the plaintiffs for circulating contraband violated their due process rights. The petitions were deemed contraband because circulating petitions is a group-organizing activity and plaintiffs failed to get the advance approval required by prison regulations. However, the prison had a history of allowing inmates to circulate petitions. Furthermore, the district court found that circulation of petitions was not an inherently illegal or wrongful activity and the inmates, therefore, had no reason to believe their action was prohibited. The court found the regulation used to punish the plaintiffs unconstitutionally vague as applied in this case and that punishing the plaintiffs pursuant to the regulation violated their due process rights. The district court also held that the defendants were not entitled either to eleventh amendment immunity or qualified immunity.

As a result, the court ordered the prison officials to expunge the records of the three punished plaintiffs with respect to any punishment received as a result of these charges. The court held, however, that the plaintiffs were not entitled to monetary damages. The court ruled that the injunctive relief expunging their records fully compensated the plaintiffs and that no rational jury could find monetary relief appropriate here. The court also held that summary judgment against plaintiff Byrd was appropriate because he had not been found guilty of these charges and had not been punished in any way. Byrd, therefore, did not state a cognizable injury.

Finally, the district court awarded an enhancement of attorney's fees to the plaintiffs' attorney in this case. The court first calculated a "lodestar" figure pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, which provides that in civil rights actions brought pursuant to § 1983, a district court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, reasonable attorney's fees as part of costs. A party is a "prevailing party" if he or she succeeds on any significant issue in litigation that achieves some of the benefit the parties sought in bringing the suit. Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 1939, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983). In establishing a reasonable fee, the court must determine whether the hours claimed are reasonable and then multiply the number of hours reasonably expended by a reasonable hourly rate for the services performed. Northcross v. Board of Educ. of Memphis City Sch., 611 F.2d 624 (6th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 447 U.S. 911, 100 S.Ct. 2999, 3000, 64 L.Ed.2d 862 (1980). After calculating this lodestar figure, the district court then awarded a 100% fee enhancement based on the contingent nature of this case.

The plaintiffs appeal the denial of damages and the denial of relief to plaintiff Byrd. The plaintiffs also claim that the district court erred in failing to enjoin any future use of the regulation to punish inmates who circulate petitions.

The defendants claim that the punishment in this case did not violate the inmates' due process rights; that they are immune from this suit; that the eleventh amendment bars this suit to the extent damages are sought; that plaintiffs lack standing to bring this suit; that plaintiffs have failed to show any injury; that the district court erred in ordering the expungement of the plaintiffs' records; and that the court erred in enhancing attorney's fees.

We address each of these issues in turn below.

II

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo. EEOC v. University of Detroit, 904 F.2d 331, 334 (6th Cir.1990). Summary judgment is appropriate where there exist no genuine issues of material fact and where one of the parties is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Canderm Pharmacal, Ltd. v. Elder Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 862 F.2d 597, 601 (6th Cir.1988). A material issue of fact exists where disputed evidence is sufficient to support a verdict in favor the non-moving party by a reasonable finder of fact. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510-11, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). "If the evidence is merely colorable or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted." Ibid. (citations omitted).

The plaintiffs claim that the district court erred in denying them damages in this case. They claim that they were significantly injured by the punishment imposed on them. Wolfel alleges that he was denied parole in part because of the punishment he received as a result of this incident. Perotti said that the public nature of his punishment caused the other inmates to refuse to associate with him. The plaintiffs also ask for punitive damages because they believe they were punished in retaliation for the exercise of first amendment rights. They further claim that all of these events caused them mental distress and fear of engaging in future peaceful petitioning activity. The plaintiffs argue that summary judgment on the damages issue was inappropriate because there remain issues of material fact on their claim for compensation. They claim that they are entitled to damages for the deprivation of their rights. Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 395, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 2004, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971). They also claim that they are entitled to "presumed damages" for this deprivation. Memphis Community Sch. Dist. v. Stachura, 477 U.S. 299, 311, 106 S.Ct. 2537, 2545, 91 L.Ed.2d 249 (1986). In short, the plaintiffs ask this court to remand this case for a determination on compensatory and punitive damages.

Next, the plaintiffs claim that the district court erred in limiting the injunctive relief to an order...

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