Amos v. Taylor

• Decision Date: 01 December 2020
• Docket Number: NO. 4:20-CV-7-DMB-JMV,4:20-CV-7-DMB-JMV
• Parties: MICHAEL AMOS, et al. PLAINTIFFS v. TOMMY TAYLOR, et al. DEFENDANTS
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Mississippi

MICHAEL AMOS, et al. PLAINTIFFS v. TOMMY TAYLOR, et al. DEFENDANTS

NO. 4:20-CV-7-DMB-JMV

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI GREENVILLE DIVISION

December 1, 2020

ORDER

Before the Court is "Plaintiffs' Opposed Motion to Compel Defendants' Responses to Expedited Discovery Requests Related to COVID-19 and for Sanctions." Doc. #172.

IProcedural History

On January 28, 2020, thirty-three inmates at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman filed a "First Amended Class-Action Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial" against Tommy Taylor, in his official capacity as the Interim Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, and Marshal Turner, in his official capacity as the Superintendent of Parchman. Doc. #22. In their complaint, the plaintiffs allege that the defendants' policies and practices caused years of neglect at Parchman, which placed them in imminent danger of serious physical injury, in violation of the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment, as incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment. The pleading, which includes a proposed class action, seeks monetary and injunctive relief.

On March 16, 2020, the plaintiffs filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and mandatory preliminary injunction seeking an "order directing mandatory and affirmative action to safeguard Plaintiffs at Parchman from SARS-CoV-2, also known as, COVID-19." Doc. #59 at 1. Three days after the completion of expedited briefing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a document titled, "Interim Guidance on Management of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Correctional and Detention Facilities." Based upon this guidance, the Court directed the parties to supplement their briefing. Doc. #70. The parties completed their supplemental briefing on April 15, 2020. See Docs. #74, #75.

On April 24, 2020, this Court denied the plaintiffs' request for preliminary injunctive relief, finding:

[T]he defendants have undoubtedly taken steps to address the risk of COVID-19 in Parchman. Such undisputed steps include the creation and updating of the [facility's pandemic] Plan, posting of signs, promulgation of quarantine and screening policies for both inmates and visitors, suspension of in-person visitation except for attorneys, implementing cleaning procedures in the housing units, the waiving of co-pays for inmates, limitations on transfers, and the provision of extra soap to inmates.

Doc. #79 at 18. In reaching these factual conclusions, the Court credited the affidavits of officials from MDOC and Centurion (MDOC's third-party healthcare provider). Id. at 2-13.

On August 11, 2020, the plaintiffs filed a motion for "expedited discovery focused on Defendants' compliance [with] the representations made to this Court [regarding COVID-19 precautions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary] and with public health guidelines and implementation of measures at Parchman to reduce spread and protect against COVID-19." Doc. #128 at 1. Specifically, the motion asked that "the Court enter an Order: (1) that service of Plaintiffs' Interrogatories and RFPs on Defendants' be deemed effective the date this Motion is granted; and (2) directing Defendants to respond to interrogatories and produce documents responsive to Plaintiffs' RFPs on an expedited basis - within five (5) to seven (7) days." Id. at 3.

On August 26, 2020, the Court granted the motion to the extent it sought leave to conduct expedited discovery and deem the requested discovery (eight interrogatories and eight requests for production) served as of the date of the order. Doc. #141 at 17. The Court required the defendants to respond to the discovery requests within fourteen days and authorized the plaintiffs to file "an appropriate motion to compel" if the defendants objected to discovery and the good faith requirements of Rule 37 were satisfied. Id.

Two months after the Court authorized discovery, the plaintiffs filed a motion to compel. Doc. #172. The motion to compel is fully briefed. Docs. #173, #177, #178.

IIThe Discovery Requests and Responses

As mentioned above, on August 26, 2020, the Court deemed the plaintiffs' requests for discovery (eight requests for production and eight interrogatories) served as of that date and directed the defendants to respond within fourteen days. The plaintiffs' proposed discovery seeks responses to the following interrogatories:

INTERROGATORY NO. 1: Consistent with information provided by Departments of Correction throughout the country, including the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, please separately provide the following COVID-19 statistics for both the inmate and employee populations of each of the twenty-three (23) facilities for which MDOC typically reports COVID-19 information: (1) total number tested; (2) total number of positive tests; (3) total number of negative tests; (4) total number of pending tests; (5) total number of retests processed; (6) total number of recovered cases; and, (7) total number of COVID-19 deaths.

INTERROGATORY NO. 2: Consistent with information and statistics provided by Departments of Correction throughout the country, including the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, please separately provide the following COVID-19 statistics and information for both the employee and inmate populations by Unit, Building, and Zone at Parchman: (1) total number tested; (2) total number of positive tests; (3) current number of symptomatic positive cases; (4) current number of asymptomatic positive cases; (5) total number of negative tests; (6) total number of pending tests; (7) total number of retests processed; (8) total number of recovered cases; and, (9) total number of COVID-19 deaths.

INTERROGATORY NO. 3: For all inmate and employee statistics requested in Interrogatory No. 2, please identify the individual Persons counted in the statistics along with the reason/basis for their testing, the date(s) on which their test(s) were conducted and on which results were received. For the employee population, please identify the Persons counted in the statistics who have self-reported this information along with the reason/basis for their testing, the date(s) on which their tests were conducted and on which results were received. If the employee did not self-report, you may identify said employee by a unique identifier consistent throughout these responses.

INTERROGATORY NO. 4: Identify and provide information regarding the individuals who were determined to be Close Contacts of any and all Parchman Residents and employees who have tested positive for COVID-19. Please includein the information provided: (i) the identity of the Covid-19 positive case with whom they were a Close Contact; (ii) the steps taken to identify Close Contacts of the positive case; (iii) the location, time, and manner under which the contact took place; (iv) the Person(s) who undertook the contact tracing and/or Close Contact investigation and the date(s) on which it occurred; and, (v) whether the local or state health department was notified and/or involved in investigating/contact tracing.

INTERROGATORY NO. 5: Please identify each instance, since March 11, 2020, in which an individual, cohort, or any other group of Persons has been subject to Quarantine at Parchman. With respect to each instance, please include the following information: (i) whether it is an individual, cohort, or other group subject to the Quarantine; (ii) the number and identity of the Parchman Residents and employees involved or with access, including any floorwalkers or work crews; (iii) the location (Unit/Building/Zone/Cell/Bed) where it took place; (iv) the beginning and ending date, if any, of the Quarantine; (v) the identity of the Person(s) who made the decision to Quarantine; (vi) the circumstances and reasons the Quarantine was instituted; and, (vii) the MDOC employee(s) and/or healthcare professional(s) responsible for monitoring the health and symptoms of those subject to the Quarantine.

INTERROGATORY NO. 6: Please identify each instance, since March 11, 2020, in which a Person was placed under Medical Isolation at Parchman. With respect to each instance, please include the following information: (i) the identity of the Parchman Resident(s) and employee(s) involved or with access, including any floor walkers or work crews; (ii) the location (Unit/Building/Zone/Cell/Bed) where the Medical Isolation took place; (iii) the beginning and ending date, if any, of the Medical Isolation; (iv) the identity of the Person(s) who made the decision to begin Medical Isolation; (v) the circumstances and reasons the Medical Isolation was instituted; and, (vi) the MDOC employee(s) and/or healthcare professional(s) responsible for monitoring the health and symptoms of the person in Medical Isolation.

INTERROGATORY NO. 7: Please state the criteria used to determine when a COVID-19 test should be administered to a Parchman Resident and any guidance, instruction, or suggestions provided by MDOC (or any other government agency, official, or representative) to Parchman on the circumstances under which a COVID-19 test should be administered. Please include in your response (a) the role of MSP custody staff in assessing the need for testing, (b) the supply of available tests in MSP, and (c) the use of outside medical facilities and the Mississippi Department of Health for testing.

INTERROGATORY NO. 8: Pursuant to MDOC's announcement on April 27, 2020, MDOC suspended "inter-facility transfers, except in emergency cases," while intra-facility transfers were never suspended. Please identify: (a) the number of inter-facility transfers (by date, departure, and arrival facility) that have occurred since April 27, 2020; (b) for those inter-facility transfers that occurred between April 27, 2020 and May 29, 2020, please identify the "emergent reason" for saidtransfer; (c) the number of intra-facility

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